Rekindling of Passion
by Shadoweye77
Summary: Living in both grief and regret, Mike has lived in depression because he feels responsible for his girlfriend's disappearance, who had been the night guard for Fazbear's Pizzeria for several months. He takes the very same job five years later when in a desperate need of money. After starting his job though, he'll come across someone-something that will help him cope with his loss.
1. Chapter 1 - A Man's Despair

Surprise! I've come around to finally start revising this story since it is my first (and amateur) story. Now that I've gotten slightly more comfortable in my writing, I'm going to do a bit of revising and polishing for this story to make it more enjoyable (and less cringy) for me to look over and be more proud of. I hope you all will continue to enjoy reading this and as always:

-I do not own FNAF nor do I own the characters, they all belong to the great man Scott Cawthon!

-All credit for the splash art goes to xNIROx!

And a couple more things I've decided to add along...

-Foxy isn't in a state of disrepair, neither is the cove. Both are functional and open to the public.

-The small random room that Mangle stayed in that was in the original story has been removed. I don't see it fitting anymore, and as such, I've decided to cut it out and replace it with something more relevant to FNAF 1's layout.

Now then, let us begin...

* * *

Chapter 1

~A Man's Despair~

*BANG*

"Oh god!"

*BANG*

"Please!"

*BANG*

"Stay away from me!"

Mike cowered in his chair as he watched the left office door dent slightly inwards while an enraged animatronic bashed against it violently. Everything inside the room shook as the fox animatronic began beating against the metallic door even faster. Mike brought his legs into a fetal position as his heart rate, and breathing became erratic. In the corner of his eyes, he watched a black silhouette pull away from the doorway. Then, there was an eerie silence. After waiting for a minute for something to happen, the guard slowly unfurled himself. With a shaky hand, he turned on the left light to see if the animatronic was gone. The button clicked, and the hallway light turned on.

"Night guard..." a robotic voice growled as the face of a red fox suddenly appeared under the bright light.

Almost immediately, Mike screamed in terror before flinging his body backward, away from the doorway. The chair fell along with him as he crashed onto the checkered tiles, but he ignored the pain. His entire focus was towards the infuriated pirate fox known as Foxy.

"Open this door now, or else I'll gut yer innards like a bloody whale!" The animatronic threatened before banging its hook against the glass. Although the whole window shuttered, it held firm, which only caused the pirate to growl in further irritation. Then, in a flash, the animatronic ran back down the hallway, leaving behind a terrified man.

Mike stared at the glass window with frightened eyes before slowly composing his breath. Taking a second to wipe the dripping sweat from his forehead, Mike shakily stood up and turned off the left office light. With a heavy sigh, the man leaned down to pull the chair up from the ground before sitting right on top of it once more. The guard then reached towards the metal table in front of him. Grabbing the small tablet device, he brought it closer to his face and clicked onto a camera titled "CAM 1C". Mike sighed in relief when he saw the curtains were closed, making him relax against the back of the swivel chair.

Reaching over to his left one last time, he allowed the left door to rise back up in order converse what remaining power he had left. Suddenly, he heard a pair of footsteps approach him to his right, prompting him to close the right door as soon as possible. The steps halted right at his window, making Mike's breathing increase again. Feeling a little anxious, he stared at the dark window before deciding to turn the light on.

The light fluttered on, revealing a giant chicken animatronic giving the poor man a deathly glare. Its magenta eyes pierced through his skin like daggers, making him shiver uncomfortably.

"C'mon Mr. Guard-," Chica said in a southern feminine accent, "-don't be rude. Let us in. The sooner you do it, the quicker this can be!"

Stricken with fear, the night guard stuttered out, "N-N-No! Leave me alone!"

"Na-ah! No can do mister for we have a score to settle with you!"

Mike shook his head in confusion and in also desperation as he said, "Score? What did I ever do to any of you?!"

Chica intensified her glare before replying back, "Open this door, and maybe I'll tell you!"

Mike could tell this discussion wasn't going to go anywhere, so he turned the right light off before going back into a fetal position. "Oh dear god, I'm going to die tonight..." He whispered to himself as he hugged himself tighter. "Why did I come back here? Why did I have to go back to this forsaken place?" He began to whimper a bit louder as he felt a tear form in his right eye. "Why does this stupid place have to exist? All I wanted was a job, alright!? A fucking job!" Mike screamed out in frustration as he banged his fist against the side of the chair.

"Hey, no cursing in the workplace! If Freddy hears you cursing, he'll make you regret it!" Chica yelled from her side of the window.

The guard was just about to give a rebuttal, but then his heart sank into his chest when he didn't see the point. He unfurled his fist and took a second to look down at the tablet to see if Foxy hasn't come out yet. As soon as he checked the screen though, he nearly choked back a sob when he saw the time and battery life. There was only 5% battery left, and it was just 4:55 am.

"Please…" Mike begged himself as he shook the tablet in disbelief. "No, please no! I-I-I just came for some money…"

 _"I'm going to die here, aren't I? W-Why did I take this stupid job?_ As he let a couple of soft whimpers, he gazed down at his hands as his tears blurred his vision. ' _Why… Why did you have to work here? Please-please don't tell me this what happened to you…"_

Mike suddenly broke into a sob as he tried to repress his thoughts about her. He couldn't let his guilt trip him up now; his life was in danger. After a minute of crying, he could hear the heavy footsteps coming from the left hallway. Ignoring the tears in his eyes, the guard slammed his fist into the left hall door button, and immediately the office door *Swooshed* straight down. Mike held his breath before returning to his weeping. "I-I-I-I got to hold it together! I-I have to do it for her!" The guard said to himself as he desperately tried to hold back his tears.

While the grown man was trying to control himself, he failed to notice two dim lights gleaming through the air ventilation grate located just behind him. The two golden eyes stared somberly towards the guard, watching him weep in solitude while also listening to his muttering. As the man sobbed to himself, the unknown figure watched in silence as a single thought came to its mind.

 _"M-M-i-I-kK-e-E-y-Y…"_

The guard's sobs suddenly became silent as he heard something get closer to him. Mike blinked for a moment, contemplating on what he had just heard, only to scream out in complete shock.

*BANG*

The sound of a heavy fist banged itself against the left door, causing the guard to stare towards it in horror.

*BANG*

"Come out, come out little 'ol night guard!" A scratchy yet masculine voice said on the other side. Just then, Mike spotted a large shadow enter the view of the left window; Mike nearly skipped a beat when he saw two bright magenta eyes stare right at him. "I can see you in there!"

*BANG*

Mike's breath grew even more unsteady as he could see slight dents coming through the left door. Having been scared out of his mind, he quickly shuffled his swivel chair back, only to run it right into the back wall.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Schmidt?" Chica's voice called out behind her doorway before a loud bang was heard once more.

*BANG*

Mike stared at the purple silhouette in both confusion and horror before deciding to look towards the other doorway, only to find a yellowish figure staring right at him as well. Mike's heart dropped in an instant while his body shook profusely in fear. In a desperate attempt to calm himself, he glimpsed downwards at the security tablet he still held the only thing that could save him now. In that very instant of looking, there was nothing but an eerie silence as the shaking guard stared down at the flickering screen.

The tablet screen lit up part of his face, revealing several tears beginning to well up in his eyes. The tablet said there was only 3% battery left, and it was 5:03. He had nearly a whole hour left to go before he even had a chance to escape.

Mike didn't hear or touch anything as he dropped the tablet out of his hands and slowly looked up towards the office's poster. There, illustrated in the poster, stood the three main animatronic members, and each of whom just awkwardly stood in their place. However, in his delusional mind, he could see them all staring right at him, taunting him with maniacal grins.

"There's nowhere left for you to go, Mr. Night Guard." Chica mockingly said on her side of the door.

"It's time to accept your fate, boy…" Bonnie growled as he brought his mask closer towards the office window.

Then, as if on cue, both animatronics slammed their doors before saying simultaneously, "You will pay for what you did to her."

The guard froze up. Both voices echoed inside his mind for a long second, bouncing around until finally, his guilt came back to him. He didn't understand who, or why these animatronics were so mad at him; it was his first day on the job after all. None of that mattered now, for there was only one thing on his mind now: his lost girlfriend.

Both animatronics continued to bang on the doors, but Mike paid no attention to either of them; his mind was too distant at this point to even register what was going on around him. Instead, he just sat still, staring blankly ahead, as precious memories rushed through his head. It didn't matter if the memory was good or bad because the only thing he cared about any of them was the fact they had the girl he once loved. The girl who depended on him, who cared for him, who too loved him. The girl who he betrayed because of his selfish reasons…

The memories suddenly became altered as it all went back to that night… The night he last talked to her… The night she had left him… The last time he had ever got to hear her grief-stricken voice…

"Ab-Ab-Abigail…" Mike sobbingly said as his voice choked on the name. Succumbing to his guilt, the night guard began to sob into his hands as both animatronics halted their bangs. They watched as Mike's sobbing grew louder and more erratic than before. His crying was prominent in the darkened pizzeria, and for a second the animatronics just stood in silence as they listened to his voice.

"Oh god, Abigail… I-Is this what happened to you?" He could already picture it in his mind; a young yet bloody body mangled up inside an animatronic suit; limbs are dangling off limply while her fingers made the occasional twitch. "Oh…my… god…" Mike whispered as he brought himself back to reality. "I-I'm going to die..."

For a second, Mike sat utterly still. There wasn't much he could do now. He was dead, and there was nothing that could save him now. Taking one deep breath, Mike managed to shed one last tear from his eye. Then, he shut them both closed and opened the two doors. With a sudden whirr of metal, the doors disappeared, revealing the two hulking animatronics.

Not daring to open an eye, Mike finally said in a somber voice, "J-Just do it already, kill me. At least I can finally be with my family again… At least I can finally be with her…"

Suddenly, the sound of a dying generator echoed across the darkened pizzeria. Mike opened his eyes once more and found himself consumed in utter darkness. Both Bonnie and Chica seemed to have moved out of the room and were walking away, leaving the night guard alone in the dark office. Not daring to move or breath, he sat still while a couple of fresh tears continued to fall from his eyes. Then, he heard an unknown pair of heavy footsteps approach him on the left side before stopping right at the open doorway.

The guard slowly shifted his gaze towards the doorway, silently dreading what was about to come. Suddenly, the dark room lit up from the light of two animatronic eyes as "Toreador March" started to play from the lowly lit face of Freddy. The eerie tune echoed through the office, and each passing second caused Mike's heart to skip a beat.

Finally, the tune ended, and both eyes were soon swallowed in the dark pizzeria, leaving only the swift beating of Mike's heart and his heavy breathing. He closed his eyes once more, expecting something to grab hold of him while he was cowering, but nothing happened. Aside from the sound of rumbling off in the distance, the place was silent. Mike slowly opened his eyes to see what was going on, but his heart immediately stopped when he saw what was in front of him.

Standing right before the terrified man was Freddy Fazbear himself, grinning menacingly at the night guard. The animatronic watched as Mike's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Satisfied with seeing the man's fear, the bear screeched as it leaped forward.

 _"Run."_

Mike then felt his mind going blank as he planted both of his feet in the center of Freddy's chest before giving a hard push. The momentum created by his force allowed the guard's chair to just barely roll out of Freddy's lunge before ramming itself against the hard office wall that stood behind him. Without even batting an eye, the man leaped up from his chair as the bear repositioned itself so that it can block off both exits. However, Mike's basic instincts told him to dive for a door, and he did so. The guard threw his body forward, just underneath the bear's arms, before sliding right past the animatronic entirely. In a last-ditch effort to keep the guard from escaping, the bear hastily blocked off the right entrance of the office, granting the panicking man a clean exit on the left side. Mike pushed himself off the floor and clumsily got up before making a mad dash towards the left exit. As Mike ran through the door, he suddenly heard a bellowing voice thunder just behind him.

"Foxy! He's making his way up the left hallway!"

Mike felt his legs grow lighter as his muscles tensed up and quickened their pace, causing the guard to enter into a full on sprint as he entered the main dining room. He noticed that both Bonnie and Chica were standing next to the backstage door, who both saw Mike running into the room. As the man ran, he noticed some rustling coming from the purple curtains as a familiar accent spoke out.

"What did ye say, Fred? I didn't catch ye from in 'ere-..."

As Foxy said those last couple words, he poked his head out from the curtains and noticed Mike staring right back at him with an expression of terror. The fox's calm look soon changed into anger as it gave out a screeching scream, prompting the man to run to his right towards the kitchen and right hallway entrance. Mike could hear the clattering of their heavy but swift footsteps as they came up behind him, causing Mike to lean his head forward a bit more while pushing himself to run even faster. Running right past the right hall and bypassing the kitchen doors, Mike took a hard left towards the restaurant's entrance.

"Bonnie! Chica! Cover the front entrance!" Freddy shouted just behind Mike as the man ran as fast he could towards the glass doors.

Both Freddy and Foxy were in hot pursuit behind him, pounding down hard on the tile floor as the two tried reaching out to catch their escapee. Mike grew closer and closer to the glass doors, and at this point, he didn't care if he had to crash through the glass to escape. The guard didn't want to die like this. However, as he was just ten meters from his freedom, the guard noticed a flurry of yellow and purple fur blocking off his escape route, causing Mike to sprint instead right.

The guard entered the bathroom hall and dashed into the furthest room. Ignoring the signs as to what bathroom he was running into, he hid inside the darkened room. Mike paid no attention to the sound of animatronics' footsteps entering the hallway as he came to a complete halt near one of the mirrors. Mike exhaled softly and tiredly as he stood completely still, listening intently to the animatronics thudding against the floor just outside of the room he was in. His heart was pounding in his chest, prompting the man to drop down into a kneeling position as his mind finally came back to a sensible state.

Mike felt a rush of mixed emotions rage inside himself, most of which consisted of fear and terror. The man could do nothing but pray as he listened to the animatronics pounding away the stall doors in the opposite sex's restroom. In a desperate attempt to relax, Mike clutched his hand across his upper chest and felt something small dangling inside his shirt. Reaching down past his uniform's purple collar, he quickly yet gently pulled out a hidden necklace. Figuring there was no means of an escape, the man clutched the small carving inside his hand against his chest. Finally, he gave out a heavy breath before feeling himself tear up.

"Jesus Christ… I knew something was wrong with this place after you disappeared." Mike said lowly as if he was speaking to the carving itself. "Is this how you went Ab-Abigail? After I-I told you… You let them take you… Dear god... I'm so sorry Abby. I shouldn't have left you… Not like this… You didn't deserve this…" Gasping for another breath, he felt his tears beginning to fall as he started rocking his body slightly. "I'm going to die. This is it. I'm going to die the same way you did. Oh god..."

Feeling hopeless as ever, Mike raised his head up towards the nearest mirror to get a look at himself. He looked into the reflection and saw something peculiar approaching his shoulder from above. It had white fur clinging onto what looks like an animatronic paw, but the rest of its arm had no such hair. Instead, it had nothing but exposed beams and wires, some of which were dangling hazardously from the metallic bars. The paw drew closer to the guard as if it was reaching out to touch the man.

Mike, not knowing what the hell the thing was or belonged to, gave out an audible scream as he fell off his knees and crawled back into a nearby stall door. The hand flinched back at the man's sudden cry before receding as quickly as it could back through the rather large hole in the ventilation. The man was left gasping for breath as his heart pounded rapidly inside.

"It came over from 'ere, gang!" Foxy said just outside the bathroom entrance.

Mike peered over towards the entrance while maintaining a frightened expression as several pairs of footsteps could be heard entering the darkened room. Then, Mike watched in silent horror as several pairs of eyes came around the corner, granting him a slight vision of the animatronics' silhouettes. Mike clasped a hand over his mouth to silence his breathing, but it didn't do much.

"He's over there!" The animatronic blurted to his companions, causing the rest of the eyes to peer over towards Mike's spot.

"Bingo," Foxy said as he rushed over to the guard with his hook raised high.

If his body allowed it, Mike's heart would have dropped when he watched the pirate running right towards him. Shaking away his tears, Mike gritted his teeth as he lunged up from the ground. Mike sensed that he just barely dodged Foxy's hook as he felt cold air blowing just behind his neck. Not wanting to give up just yet, Mike charged towards the only exit, which had three other animatronics standing in the way. Mike bent forward with his right arm blocking his face as he ran straight for the entrance, praying that he was strong enough to get through. Unable to see, the man's teeth gripped even harder as he continued running.

 _"Please."_ Mike thought in silence as he felt his body crash into another animatronic.

"Gotcha!" Chica yelled out loud when she felt her hand grabbing hold of the man's collar. In a sudden and strong yank, Mike could feel his body being pulled back from whoever he crashed into. "You're not going anywhere, Michael." Chica then said as she forced the man to turn around and face her.

Mike could see the chicken's endoskeleton teeth sitting just inches away from her fake white beak teeth. To some children, it would appear as if the chicken was giving them a broad grin, but to Mike, it felt as if she was giving him a deathly smile.

"Nice work lass!" Foxy congratulated as he came up behind the man.

Before Mike could even struggle inside the animatronic's grip, he then felt a blunt metal object crash down against his forehead. Mike's head immediately began to throb in pain as Mike winced his eyes from the feeling. Mike then felt his legs being dragged across the floor as the pain was slow to recede. The guard tried his best to relieve the pain, but the throbbing feeling it caused made him both uncomfortable and limp, granting the animatronics an easier time to take him away. For what felt like several minutes, Mike felt his body being dragged across the smooth floor, farther and farther away from the restroom he was in and out into the open dining hall. He could hear the animatronics' giggling, particularly Foxy's and Chica's, as he was being dragged in front of the wooden stage.

"What - we - have! The - sucker - came - for - work - we - to - him! He - this - to -!"

Bonnie's words were being cut off in between words as Mike struggled to keep his mind together, but alas the strike from the pirate's hook left him defenseless. Mike was completely exposed. It didn't take long till Mike could hear the backstage door creak open, and once he heard it, he knew that this was it. He was a goner now.

Suddenly he felt his body come to a halt as Chica, who had been dragging him the whole time, too came to a stop. Mike was able to recollect his thoughts for a couple of seconds as he heard the animatronics mumble to themselves. He couldn't understand their words due to his throbbing headache, so instead, he focused on trying to move his arms and hands again to see if he is strong enough to move again.

Mike stared down at his hands while focusing as much as he can on moving them. At first, he could see one of his fingers twitch, but then it stopped pulling. In a sort of fit of frustration and desperation, the guard tried wiggling himself out of the chicken's iron grip, which drew the attention of the animatronics.

"Well - Well." Though Mike still had trouble understanding what he was saying completely, he continued to catch several words. "Look who - to - up - his -. What - you say Foxy? Want to go get - and show - - surprise?"

Slowly Michael's hearing became more evident, and he was beginning to comprehend what they were saying once more.

Foxy replied back in excitement as he said, "That sounds like a grand ol' plan Freddy! I'll go get the lass and show her our catch!"

"Mhm," Bonnie said with a nod before commenting. "Sounds like a good idea you two. What about you Chica?"

From what Mike could tell without looking, he felt the yellow animatronic raise her other hand in a sort of 'I'm not sure' gesture.

"I'm not sure you guys. Shouldn't we just wait till after we stuff him? Maybe then Mangle won't feel as blue as she does if she doesn't see it happen?"

"What do you mean Chica? Of course, she'll want to see him suffer! You remember what he did to her!" Bonnie replied back.

" _Who are they talking about? I don't know any Mangle…"_ Mike's thought ran through his head as he tried lifting his head up to get a better view of the animatronics. This motion, however, caught the others' attention, causing them all too quickly shut up before peering down to see if the guard was waking up.

"Foxy," Freddy then said aloud, "-go check on her will you? Just to make sure she is ok? Once this is over, we'll then show her."

The fox gave a clear response as he said, "Aye aye." Mike then could hear the pirate walking out swiftly, while the three remaining animatronics looked at each other.

"You both know what to do. I'll grab the suit while the two of you hold the guard down." Freddy then said in a calm and collective voice, much to Mike's horror.

"Sure thing Freddo!" Bonnie replied back pleasantly whereas Chica gave only a silent nod.

Mike was beginning to panic once more as he felt the yellow chicken grip her other hand on his left shoulder while moving her other one off of his collar and towards his remaining shoulder. The man could also hear Bonnie leaning over towards his lower end of his body before suddenly feeling two large hands grip on his legs. At this point Mike could finally move his hands again, and as soon as he discovered that he immediately started to flail his arms around in a wild panic.

"No! No! No! I'm not ready to die!" Mike spontaneously screamed out loud as he began to shake his body between the two animatronics violently' grasps, but alas both of them held on tightly as they started to lift him up entirely off the ground. The man only panicked further as there was no ground beneath him, but it did not matter. The two animatronics weren't letting go anytime soon.

Once he was lifted up high enough, Mike could see something laying across a metallic table just to the corner of his eye. Glancing over nervously, he noticed the tall brown figure of Freddy standing over a sizeable animatronic suit that laid motionless. It had a light grey color to its fur and had several canine-like features showing: from its tail appearing like one to its snout and ears looking almost like a grey wolf. At this point, his eyes bulged outward terror as he caught sight of the wolf's endoskeleton teeth showing off between it's mockingly smile. Mike was about to give out a loud cry, but he was interrupted when he heard several fast beating footsteps coming up from outside the room. All of the animatronics glanced over towards the door as they too listened to the sound, and they were surprised once they saw Foxy burst through the door in rapid haste.

"Freddy! Bonnie! Chica! She isn't in the cove!" Foxy blurted out as the three others looked at him in both surprise and concern as well.

"What?!" Both Bonnie and Chica replied back worriedly as they looked towards each other and back at Foxy.

"What do you mean she isn't there?" Freddy asked in a bit of a worried tone of his own.

Foxy was about to explain when everyone, including Mike, heard something clanging in the ventilation right above him. It took him a second to register the noise, but suddenly memories of the mysterious white paw sticking through the vents came to mind, causing him to shake around even more.

 _"Oh god! That-that thing is coming towards us!"_ Mike thought as he shook his body the best he could, but still couldn't get loose.

The thing kept getting closer and closer to the group, causing the animatronics to look towards each other before looking back towards the rumbling sound. Then, it came to a complete halt just a top of them all. For a second none of the animatronics moved as they stared at where they last heard it move. Finally, Bonnie glanced over at Freddy with an expression of confusion before opening his mouth to speak.

"Is that-?"

*BANG*

Immediately the animatronics flinched at the sudden sound.

*BANG BANG*

The thing repeatedly beat against the vent, causing a dent to protrude out from the thin metal.

"What the... lass?" the red fox whispered to himself as he took a quick glance over towards the struggling guard.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

*CRASH*

A flurry of white fur, metal, and wires suddenly came dropping down from newly formed hole, catching everyone off guard.

 _"M-m-I-i-C-c-H-h-a-A-A-e-e-E-L-l-L!"_

Time felt like it slowed as Mike froze up from his struggling to look straight up towards the falling thing. He instantly saw metal and wires alike falling directly towards him, and several white paws that looked exactly like the one he saw in the restroom just a few minutes ago. However, that wasn't what caught his attention the most. Instead, it was the two golden eyes that were staring right at him inside the mask of a white vixen. The last thing he did before feeling himself succumb to his panic was to think of one name before fainting.

 _"Abigail..."_

* * *

Congrats on reaching the end of this chapter! I hope you've enjoyed this slightly more polished version and please leave your comments on how you feel about this change in writing.


	2. Chapter 2 - A Fearful Meeting

Welcome back to another chapter of my revision.

Now, as always, Scott Cawthon rightfully owns FNAF and all its characters. Also, all credit for this great splash art belongs to xNIROx.

With that now being said, let us dive in shall we?

* * *

Chapter 2

~A Fearful Meeting~

"O-h-G-O-d-w-H-Y. W-h-Y-C-a-N-t-I-D-o-A-N-y-t-H-i-N-G-r-i-g-H-T. I-i-i-I-D-O-n-t-W-a-N-T-t-o-B-e-A-L-o-n-E. P-l-e-A-s-E-M-I-k-E-y. I-T-S-m-e."

...

Mike's head felt groggy when he began recovering from his blackout. The man mentally groaned as he shuffled his feet about an inch or two before ceasing. His breaths were long but slow, making it appear as if he was drawing his last breaths. As his brain subconsciously tried to move his limbs again, the guard's mind remained blank for a long period of time until he finally started to wake up.

His eyes began to flutter open. The man felt confused as he woke up, forgetting where exactly he was or what he was doing, and his confusion only grew when he realized that the room was pitch black. Mike tiredly blinked his eyes just to make sure that they were in fact open, and he was once again met with only darkness. The man gave a low sigh before shuffling his legs again. However, Mike froze when he heard a scratchy, metallic sound right next to him. Then, something soft and furry rubbed itself against the man's left arm.

Mike's mind instantaneously woke up from its dazed state when he realized there was something next to him. That was when the night's events came rushing back to memory, causing the man to suddenly tense up in fear. He was still inside the godforsaken pizzeria, and one of the animatronics was sitting next to him. After making this discovery, Mike started to notice his ears grow in discomfort as there was a pressure building inside, and it took the man a second to realize that the uncomfortable feeling was being caused by whatever sound the 'thing' was emitting.

In an effort to get his hearing back without attracting the attention of the animatronic next to him, Mike quietly inhaled some air before pushing the air out through his ears. When the guard felt his ears give a satisfying pop, he could immediately hear the loud scratchy sound of what sounded like a broken machine.

The noise was obnoxious and ear-splitting. His nerves sent a tingling wave down his spine because of the unsettling sound. The feeling was similar to that of a pair of nails dragging against a chalkboard. Mike's muscles were tensed up because of the screechy noise, but the man kept his body firmly still as he tried blocking out the static. However, after a minute of trying and failing, Mike gave up and simply sat there while sucking up to the noise. After a while though, his ears grew adjusted to the irritating sound, which allowed the guard to at least recognize the sound's pattern.

 _*Static*_

 _*Momentary pause*_

 _*Static*_

 _*_ _Momentary pause*_

 _*Static*_

Whatever the animatronic was doing, it was repeating the sound in between momentary gaps of silence. Mike couldn't tell what it was doing, but he could only assume that it was experiencing a technical issue or something. This thought then begged the question: which animatronic was it?

Mike felt even more confused now. None of the animatronics he knew, or at least remembered, had such an issue with their bodies, not unless one of them had started to malfunction since his blackout. If that were the case though, then why hasn't the thing killed him already? All the animatronics he knew were just about to kill him; all of them except for...

"Oh... Shit..." Mike thought in realization as his eyes widened. His mind then remembered the sudden flurry of white fur, wires, and metal just before his blackout, and then it remembered the long, creepy animatronic arm that was reaching out to him from the ventilation. The thing right next to him was another animatronic, and it was the one that had been stalking him from the vents.

At this point Mike was confused, so against his better judgement he decided to listen to the annoying static more closely to see if he can get any possible clues. The staticky cries followed the same pattern as before; it let out a momentary scratchy sound before falling silent for half a second then repeated back from the start. For some odd reason, he could vaguely recognize the pattern with something else he has listened to.

"Is… Is this thing… crying?" Mike internally thought as he studied the noise longer. "It can't be crying…"

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the paw move away from his arm before he felt something furry touch him. From what he could tell, it was much bigger than a paw, and it was much longer. Whatever it was, it had a more decisive shape from what he could tell from.

Internally, Mike was beginning to panic because he had no idea what was going on. He couldn't tell what this thing was doing or why it's so close to him, but he sure as hell knows he wants to get away from it. Despite this though, he didn't know where the other animatronics were, nor what time it was, so a new idea came to mind.

 _"_ Maybe I can wait this out. I mean, this thing hasn't killed me yet, and it feels like I've been out for a little bit, so maybe it's close to my shift's end."

He had decided to go with his plan since it seemed the safest option to get out of this mess. However, a small portion of his mind was also curious as to what exactly this thing was. As far as he's aware, it is another animatronic, but, unlike the others, it hadn't tried to kill him. At least, that is what he thinks.

Mike couldn't stop himself from wanting to take a peek, so he mentally sighed before drawing in a short breath.

After mustering up all the courage he could, the man shifted his head ever so slightly towards the thing's head. Though the room was dark, his eyes had managed to adjust so that he could see just the bare minimum. Slowly, he glanced over towards the thing laying on his shoulder.

Eventually, he caught sight of a fluffy white tuff of fur sticking up in between what seemed like canine ears. The thing wasn't thankfully looking at his head, so for now he was safe to get a better glance. His shifted his head further, allowing more distinct details to come into view.

The animatronic had a long pink snout, close to what Foxy has, with a small black nose at the end. Moving towards its cheeks, the guard saw two bright red dots that gave the appearance blushes. When Mike looked further down to see what its neck was, he noticed a grayish outline of something metal showing itself.

The man quickly shifted his gaze away from the endoskeleton and his eyes suddenly grew attracted to a glowing hue. Curious than ever before, Mike looked up to see a golden pair of eyes. The guard couldn't help but freeze up when he saw the eyes. In the back of his head, faint memories of his past fluttered through his mind as he stared into the eyes. They looked similar… so similar… to that of his girlfriend Abigail… Mike went into a momentarily dazed state before his mind jumped back into reality by a certain thought.

"Wait a second, it's looking right at me."

Mike had gotten so caught up with the animatronic's eye color that he had failed to realize that it was staring right at him. As soon as it recognized the guard taking notice, it sprung its head back quickly like a serpent drawing back its head.

The guard felt his heart drop when he saw the two glowing eyes lift upwards. With the little light the animatronic's eyes provided, he could vaguely see the thing's snake-like body reflect off the small light. The monstrous-looking animatronic lacked any kind of complete suit like what the other animatronics have. Instead, the thing was made up of almost metallic coils and limbs, with bits and pieces of limbs and wiring sticking out. A smaller looking endoskeleton head was hanging limply to the side, almost dead-like despite the fact that its neck was connected to the rest of the animatronic's body. The appearance terrified the man to his core.

Instinctively, Mike gave out a shout of panic as he shot his body backwards, away from the horrendous looking animatronic. The animatronic, whose mask looked like that a of female Foxy, realized what the guard was doing and instantly it sprung itself forward like a launched slinky. Mike gave out another panicked shout before pushing his body back even further.

The bodiless vixen had just barely missed his legs, but it still made an effort to get close to him by dragging its grotesque body with it. Mike tried distancing his body further from it, but to his horror his body struck against a wall. The guard was backed up against the wall, and he felt his body become petrified in fear when he listened the sound of dragging metal.

Mike started whimper out in tears when he spotted the vixen's golden glowing eyes draw nearer to him. His heartbeat rose exponentially while his breathing became erratic. His mind had effectively blanked out from panic, allowing absolutely no sane thoughts to run through his head. He was like a trapped prey, watching his killer draw closer to his withering body. The guard watched as the head got closer and closer.

5 feet…

4 feet…

3 feet…

2 feet…

Once it had reached his shoes, Mike shut his eyes in a desperate fit of panic as he continued whimpering. "Please wake up! Please wake up! Please-please-please-please-please wake up," Mike begged to himself mentally.

His ears picked up the sound of its metal limbs lifting its head off the wooden floor, allowing only the faint sound of metallic creaking echoing inside its skeletal frame. Finally, he could hear the creaking come to a stop directly in front of his face. Mike was left to make a choice: either he opens his eyes and get see the face of his murderer or he dies with his closed like a coward.

The thought of Abigail managed to enter into his mind, prompting the man to make his decision. If he was going to die, he might as well try to be brave in hopes of honoring her memory. Mike felt his eye muscles begrudgingly lift open, and instantly the color of golden light breached into his eyes.

He sat completely motionless. His breath halted, as did his heart for a brief moment, as he stared directly into the animatronic's eyes. Neither figure made a sudden movement; both individuals kept their eyes fixated on one another. Slowly, Mike watched as the vixen began opening its jaw, revealing the sharp white teeth underneath while also exposing the endoskeletons teeth further back in the mouth. The guard would have shivered from the unsettling of the second pair of teeth if he wasn't already frozen in fear. With the vixen's mouth now half open, the two then once again fell motionless.

Finally, the animatronic made its move…

In a swift twist of events, the animatronic gave out a soft crackling cry as it stared directly into the eyes of Mike; it could see the terror and fear inside his brown eyes just by seeing her reflection within them. Two black, oily tears appeared in the corner of its eyes as it stared the horrible abomination that was itself. Mike was breathless as the animatronic closed its eyes before shamefully hiding its face from the man.

He felt his heart beat once more when he watched the crying vixen retreat back into the darkness of the room. Not daring to spend another second in this wretched place, he jumped up from the wooden floor and over towards what seemed like the exit to his right.

In a fraction of a second, his body flew through the purple curtains of Pirate's Cove. Mike inadvertently fell face first into the floor. The sound of his head smacking down against the tiles created a loud thud that resonated through the pizzeria. The guard felt a painful groan creep up into his throat before he heard the sweet sound of an alarm go off in the distance.

 _"Ding dong ding dong-dong ding ding dong-Yeah!"_

Mike opened his eyes in disbelief as he heard the night shift alarm go off.

"I-I did it. I made it! I'm-I'm alive!"

Ignoring the sore pain across his face, the grown man leapt up like an excited child before yelling out in triumph, "I did it!"

The man stood proudly in place as he mentally gave himself a pat on the back for making it through the night. He stood there in place with a smug grin across his face before his smile flashed away. Just barely in the corner of his left eye, Mike noticed four colorful figures standing over on the main stage staring straight at him.

Wide-eyed in sudden fear once again, the man tilted his head over towards the large stage to see all four animatronics glaring at his soul. Mike's mouth locked up and his spine snapped completely upright when he saw their deathly gazes. With his fixed on the four figures, the guard began to slowly walk towards the pizzeria entrance while taking the furthest possible route from them. The animatronics simply followed his movement.

After a tense minute of staring while walking, Mike finally reached the doorway. Without shifting his eyes away from the animatronics, his hands rummaged through the security keys before touching the door key. In one swift motion, Mike instantaneously unlocked the door and threw it open before jumping out into the open world. The animatronics could hear the bellowing sound of the night guard's excitement before turning away with unamused looks.

"I still believe we should have stuffed th' scurvy dog," Foxy muttered rudely. "He seems to forget how much work th' lass had done to save his skin. I'll be happy to gut-."

"Foxy," the stern voice of Freddy interrupted, which effectively silenced the red fox. "That isn't going to get us anywhere you know, nor will it help her."

Foxy rolled his eyes, "What'd she see in him? Th' ungrateful dog has no idea what he has done to her!"

"This isn't about you Foxy," Bonnie stated towards the pirate. "This isn't about us. This is about her. She wanted us out of this, so we are going to do just that."

"And how do ye suppose we do that? Do we just hide away somewhere tonight or just ignore him?"

Chica glanced over at the fox before switching over towards Freddy and Bonnie. "Well why don't we just stay inside the kitchen? I mean, the security camera is broken aside from the audio, but I'm sure Freddy can take care of that. Plus, we won't have to cram ourselves in one of the bathrooms or something and we'll be relatively close in case something bad happens to her."

"That could work," Freddy said with a nod while Bonnie did the same.

Foxy, on the other hand, was still unsure. "Are we really giving th' lad a chance? After everything he's done, we are still-."

"Foxy, I've heard your opinion already so you don't need to repeat it," Freddy said in irritation and he gave the fox a hardened look. "We are doing what Maggie wants us to do."

As if on cue, the four animatronics could hear a scratchy cry echo out from Pirate's Cove. Foxy's angry look subsided into a saddened frown when he turned towards the static noise. The fox argued no more as he simply sighed. "I best be going in order to cheer up the lass. Ye'll can get me later when it be time to head to the kitchen."

The other three nodded back before Foxy hopped off the main stage and made a quick dash for his own stage.

"God I hope this works," Chica stated sadly as she heard the vixen's cries quiet down.

Bonnie stared at the purple starry curtains before saying in agreement, "So do I, cheeks. So do I."

Freddy didn't respond back to the chicken's statement, but his wishes were the same as theirs. Both for her sake and his…

...

The night guard had such a long and stressful night that he decided to go out and eat a well-deserved breakfast. Mike had his car windows pulled down to allow the cold fresh air breeze over him. As his banged up car drove by several shops streets, the man couldn't help but gaze in amazement at the sun's morning rays basking over several naked trees lined with Christmas decorations.

It was currently a week away from the jolly holiday, so the streets and shops around him were decorated heavily in the festive stuff. After several minutes of driving, the man eventually pulled up to a local diner that had been a favorite for him in his younger years.

Mike walked into the bustling diner with a slight smile. In his mind, fond memories of his time here came back, but they all shared a common theme in which he had lacked here. Abigail wasn't with him this time. The man's smile faded down into a frown when the thought of her came back to him, but he was brought back to reality when he noticed a waiter motioning him towards a table.

Mike quickly raised his smile back up as he moved towards the table she was telling him to sit. In a couple seconds, the man told the waiter for a glass of water and the breakfast menu as he sat down in the booth. The waiter gave him a nod before heading off to get the requested items, allowing the young man to be left alone to his own thoughts...

 _"Oh come now Mikey, be patient for once. Our food is coming." A young female teen said from across the table._

 _The girl's face was smooth and perfect from any blemishes, unlike the boy's face across from her. Her face lacked any form of makeup, except for her lips which gleamed in waxy lip balm. As for her brown hair, it had been pulled back to form a ponytail. The teen's golden eyes focused themselves on her boyfriend across from her, who looked impatient as ever._

 _Mike kept tapping his fingers against the table while staring back at his girlfriend with an annoyed look._

 _"What's taking them so long? We just ordered a thing of waffles. They normally don't take this long to make," Mike said in a grouchy tone._

 _"Oh Mike, they have other customers too you know. How could they possibly know its your birthday today," Abigail said with a bit of giggling in her sweet voice._

 _Mike raised an eyebrow in curiosity as he watched the girl try desperately to hold back her giggles._

 _"What's so funny Abigail?"_

 _"W-W-What do you mean?" She tried replying back innocently._

 _The young man kept his eyebrows raised before glancing around to see if he could find a waiter._

 _Good news was that he found one. Bad news was that he found all of them. All of the waiters were standing right behind him, just away from his peripheral vision. As soon as they were spotted, the employees all opened their mouths and sang out in unison, "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Michael! Happy Birthday to you!"_

 _They then gave the embarrassed teen a loud applause, which was joined in by the rest of the customers, before finally the the torment ended. By the time it was all over, Mike's cheeks were red with embarrassment as waffles were placed out in front of him. Meanwhile, Abigail was laughing hysterically at her boyfriend's misfortune._

 _"Happy Birthday Mikey! I hope you enjoyed the little party I arranged," She said in glee as the man did his best to hide his face._

 _"I should have known you were up to something," Mike grumbled to himself as Abigail's laughing came to a cheerful end._

 _"Oh come now, you shouldn't be so grumpy; its your eighteenth birthday after all!"_

 _"Yeah and I would like it if the whole world doesn't know that," The teen grumbled in annoyance._

 _"Here. This might cheer you up then," She said with a smile as her hand pulled out a small wrapped gift._

 _Mike's mood immediately flipped when he saw the box. Abigail noticed this and happily handed the gift to him. Like an excited child, Mike eagerly grabbed hold of it and opened it to see a small necklace inside. The small thing had a simple chain going around it, but the centerpiece was a small carving of a white fox._

 _"Well, do you like it?" Abigail said anxiously._

 _Mike looked back up at the girl and gave a sly smile._

 _"You know it's typically the boyfriend's job to give jewelry as a present." Abigail gave a soft laugh at the joke before Mike finally said, "Yes, I love it. Almost as much as I love you though." He gave the girl a playful wink, which made her wave her hand at him._

 _"Oh grow up."_

 _The two laughed again until Mike leaned over across the table and gave her a gentle hug._

 _"Thank you."_

Mike felt himself wake up from his memory when the waiter placed his drink and menu down on the table. He couldn't help but frown by sudden jump to reality, especially since he was reliving a fond moment of his life. When he tried thinking back on the memory, his mind would blank out for a second or two each time he tried picturing it. He wasn't going to relive it anytime soon. Mike gave out a saddened sigh before grabbing the menu and taking a look amongst all the options. He might as well enjoy the present the best he can.

…

 _"Can't believe I'm returning to this stupid job. The pay is absolute garbage, I nearly died last night, and that thing is still there! If only I didn't need the money_ , Mike thought, _then maybe I don't have to risk my life."_

Mike's car drove up into the empty parking lot surrounding the pizzeria before shutting off the engine. The time on his radio readout, "11:54 pm," so he had enough time to get into his office. He went ahead and opened his car door, but he remembered something and reached back to his passenger seat to grab a long metal rod. *Can't forget this flashlight, he thought to himself as his body exited the car. Without even bothering to lock his car doors, the man walked over to the pizzeria's entrance and unlocked the front door in order to get in.

It took a second for him to open the door, but once he did he calmly closed it from behind and locked it up on the the inside. Once he was done with that, Mike wasted no time and made his way to his security office. He walked the whole way through the dining room without daring to look back at either Pirate's Cove or the main stage. Entering into the right hallway, Mike hastened his pace in order to get to safety before sitting down in the security chair in relief.

He hadn't heard those demonic things following him, so maybe they were still up on the stage. Then, he heard a low hum echo throughout the restaurant. Suddenly, all the lights except for the security office powered off, signaling the start of his shift.

Mike wasted no time and immediately picked up the security tablet to see if the animatronics were where they belonged. With a heavy sigh, the guard flipped over to the main stage security camera. In a split second, his calm expression quickly dropped into panic when he saw the main stage was completely empty. Mike held the tablet tightly in utter disbelief before searching through the rest of the cameras in hopes of spotting one animatronic.

 _"Dining room, no. Backstage room, no. Restrooms, no. Pirate's Cove,"_ the guard paused for a moment when he saw the curtains were wide open. The purple starry covers had been back, revealing a darkened abyss. " _No... Hallways, no. Jesus where the hell are they?"_

Mike glanced through all the cameras again to make sure he didn't miss anything. The video and audio for the kitchen had been cut off, so that camera was useless, but the rest were working fine. The man noticed his battery life had already depleted down to 97%, so he decided to make one final check in case he missed something.

Rapidly, he looked at each camera one more time before pausing back at Pirate's Cove. The curtains were still open, but he noticed some movement inside the cove. The stage was extremely dark so he could barely see what was going on. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, a giant mangled mesh of metal and wires flew past the camera.

Mike felt his heart skip a beat as he quickly shifted over to the security camera on the left hallway. After a brief delay, the camera feed in the left hallway came live. The video showed a cobbled mess of endoskeleton joints, limbs, wires and more dangling up from the ceiling. That was when Mike realized it was that thing he met last night.

 _"Oh shit! It's coming to kill me!"_

The thing was awkwardly swinging itself across the ceiling, but it was getting closer to the left doorway. Mike wasted no time in lowering the tablet before punching his hand over to the left door button, but instead of hearing the door close down, he heard the button give off a click. The guard looked over at the button before pressing on it a second time, only for it to repeat the same clicking sound instead of closing the door. When Mike peered down at his security tablet to see what was going on, he noticed a small error notice at the bottom right hand of the screen.

"Error! A Momentary Door Failure Has Occurred. Please Wait A Minute As System Reboots."

Mike was about to curse out in frustration, but he heard the sound of metal beams approaching the left windows. Thinking that the other animatronics were probably waiting for him to run out of the room, the man instead chose to drop the tablet before crawling under the desk hurriedly; he had no time left to wait for the door to fix itself. The guard clung on to the flashlight he had brought against his chest as he silently listened to the sound of metal swinging its way over to the window.

There was a brief moment of silence, as if the thing was looking through the window, before he heard the sound of metal moving closer. Mike held his breath when he spotted a white paw grab the inside of the office doorway. The man kept his body completely motionless.

Slowly, the animatronic vixen swung into the room. It was hoping to find the night guard hiding somewhere in one of the corners, so it scanned the right side of the room. The animatronic's ears sulked back when it couldn't find anything except for the security chair in the back of the room, which saddened it even further. However, the animatronic suddenly heard the soft sound of a whimper escape from Mike's mouth, causing it to flinch its head towards the cowering man hiding underneath the desk.

Mike held onto the flashlight harder than ever before when he realized he has been spotted. "G-G-Get away from me," the man stuttered out fearfully as the vixen brought its full body into the room. "P-Please, j-just get away from me!"

The animatronic, however, ignored his pleas as it slowly moved itself down onto the floor. The vixen's eyes were trained on the shivering guard, taking note of his irregular breathing and fetal posture. Carefully, the animatronic's ropey body pushed its head closer to the man.

Mike stared in complete terror at the two golden eyes glowing in front of him; his body was paralyzed in utter fear. His hands were growing increasingly sweaty, and he eventually lost grip of the flashlight. The metal object dropped down against the cold tiled floor before rolling off somewhere in the dark. The animatronic took a brief moment to watch the fallen object roll away before returning her gaze back to the night guard.

At this point, Mike could feel his eyes beginning to tear up when thoughts of imminent death and his lost girlfriend ran rapid in his mind. As the vixen inched its body closer to the tearful man, Mike brought a hand up against his neck. There, he felt the small outline of his necklace underneath his shirt.

The animatronic took notice of this though, so it began to extend its head and paw out towards his chest. Mike's arm immediately pulled away from the necklace when he saw the animatronic moving closer, and, unlike the previous night, he decided to close his eyes. All the guard could sense was the imposing presence of the animatronic abomination in front of him, but he dared not to open his eyes.

The vixen, however, noticed the guard's extreme discomfort, so it gently touched the outline of his necklace without pushing much force to harm the man. Slowly, it moved its paw up towards the collar line of his security shirt before reaching inside to grab hold of his carving. The animatronic pulled the piece of jewelry out delicately as the man kept his eyes tightly shut, ignoring the paw touching his shirt.

Once it had successfully pulled the whole carving out from underneath, the vixen's eyes stared dolefully at the innocent object for a long period of time. Mike's was still, as was the animatronic's, as the two minds mingled in their own thoughts.

After a minute of absolute silence, the vixen felt its own eyes start to tear up in dismay when she returned her gaze towards Mike, who continued to have his eyes shielded from its horrid sight. With black tears starting to stream fresh from her golden eyes, the animatronic lowered her face downward as she gently moved her paw away from the necklace.

The young man felt the animatronic release its hold on his prized possession, causing him to peak open his eyes. He noticed the animatronic rest its head lightly against the floor as it allowed itself to cry in shame. The animatronic began to emit the same static cries that it made the previous night, confirming the man's suspicions. The animatronic in front of him didn't want to hurt him; it had saved him from the others when it could have easily let them kill him.

He remembered how it saw itself the previous night; how it tried hiding itself from him when it saw its own body. It was ashamed of its own appearance, and who wouldn't be. If anybody else ever had the same look as it, Mike would bet his life that they would also be ashamed of it. With this silent revelation coming to mind, Mike felt an overbearing sense of pity for the poor thing. For whatever reason it may be, the sound of the vixen's suffering reminded Mike of a somber time in his past...

 _The girl's voice was filled with tears as she held herself around the "I-I-I don't know what to do Michael! They… They hurt me so much and I'm-I'm afraid to go back. I-I don't know who to go to for help at this point."_

 _Mike tightened his hold her while gently rubbing her back in a soothing manner. "I'm here for you, Abby. I'm always here for you."_

 _"_ _You're going off to college in a couple months though," Abigail cried tearfully into his shoulder. "You won't be here for me all the time. I-I'm stuck at my stupid job because I have nowhere else to go! I hate being alone in the dark with nobody around, but it's the only job hiring anywhere near here. What am I going to with my family? They hate me. For no apparent reason, they hate me for who I am."_

 _"_ _Forget about them Abby," Mike said as he pulled her away from his shoulder so he can see her face. Her golden eyes met up with his as he then stated, "It's their loss for not seeing how special you are. You're sweet, kind, selfless, and much more! More than I ever am! Can't you see you're better off without them? You deserve better!"_

 _"_ _But they're all I got Michael… Without any money, I got nowhere to go."_

 _"_ _My parents will be more than happy to house you. They've even offered it to you a couple times, but you keep denying them."_

 _Abigail shook her head. "I can't burden them, Mike. They already have you to take care of, they shouldn't have to take care of somebody who can't even stand up for herself…"_

 _The girl then broke down into a pitiful sob before launching her body back into Mike with a desperate hug. Mike couldn't do anything to get her to loosen her grip, so instead he chose the only course of action that could ease her mind. Mike returned the hug with Abigail before holding her close to his mouth, where he began to sing a soothing tune…_

Amidst its distressed weeping, the vixen suddenly felt the arms of a man wrap themselves around her head and neck. Before it even had a chance to open its eyes, it felt itself get pulled into a heartfelt embrace with the man it had saved. When it realized what the guard was doing, it ceased its crying long enough to hear the slow yet gentle voice of Mike sing.

"Silent Night… Holy night… All is calm… All is bright… Round yon virgin… Mother and child… Holy infant so tender and mild… Sleep in heavenly peace… Sleep in heavenly peace…"

The man repeated the lyrics again in the same tender voice as the first time. It had been so long since he had last sung it that he had almost forgotten what its words were halfway through the tune, but words came back in heart as they once did when he first sung them to his disheartened girlfriend. He wasn't completely sure if the tune would have the same impact with this animatronic as it did with Abigail, but he couldn't just sit by and let this thing suffer on its own...

He had already made that mistake before, so he doesn't plan on repeating it a second time...

The animatronic fell completely silent as she listened to the calming words. She dared not move her body from the guard in fear of interrupting his beautiful tune, so instead she kept still throughout the song. The vixen closed her eyes in momentary bliss as the man held her disfigured body in the warm hug. It had been so long for her to feel the touch of another human being, and just thinking about that nearly caused her to break down into another fit of tears, but she managed to hold it back so that she could listen to the man finish his soothing song...

* * *

And that concludes this chapter. For all of you who read the original, I hope you liked this version better than the previous one (I know I do).


	3. Chapter 3 - Pain

Short Author's Note: I'm tired of studying, so here is your chapter. Yay!

Now, as always, Scott Cawthon rightfully owns FNAF and all its characters. Also, all credit for this excellent splash art belongs to xNIROx.

* * *

Chapter 3

~Pain~

With everyone except for the night guard and their fifth member of the kitchen, the rest of the gang were doing their things as time slowly went by. Chica had already started with making a fresh batch of pizza by flattening out the dough. The yellow chicken hum to herself a cheery tune as she rolled the dough out across the floury counter before squeezing it back together to restart the process.

Freddy quietly stood by and watched the animatronic prepare the pizza dough without saying much. Bonnie, on the other hand, was occupying himself with playing the guitar he had brought along, so he didn't die of boredom. As for Foxy, he was the only one sitting on top the counter next to the kitchen doorway while listening carefully to any outside sounds.

Everything seemed peaceful for the four members until Foxy heard a distant, scratchy sound coming from the office. The red fox perked up one of his ears, which caused him to glance over to the doorway. The pirate listened to the noise more closely, and he felt his eyes harden when he realized it was the sound of their fifth member crying from the office.

Freddy had peered over to the fox when he noticed the pirate's change in posture. It had taken him and the two remaining members a few more seconds to also hear the static crying coming from outside the room. Foxy had already hopped off the counter when the others listened to the sound, but then he halted his advance towards the double doors when he heard the voice of Freddy speak up from behind.

"Not yet Foxy. Not yet."

"What do ya mean not yet? She's crying out there," Foxy said bitterly. "Ya'll can hear her, can't ya?"

Chica nodded her head. "Well yeah we can hear her, but that doesn't instantly mean we should go check on her."

"What are ye talking 'bout lass? Me first mate is crying out there because of that bloody night guard," the pirate spat out.

"Now hold on there Foxy," Bonnie said quickly as he placed his guitar aside before walking over to the fox. "Before we start jumping straight to conclusions and make matters worse, let's take a second to think. Do we know why she's crying?"

At first Foxy was reluctant to reply back, but, after getting an intimidating glare from Freddy, he then grumbled out lowly, "No…"

"Do we honestly expect her not to cry, considering the circumstances between her and-uh…um… whatever his name is."

"Mike," Chica stated to the rabbit.

"Ah, that's right Mike. Anyways, do you really expect her not to cry?"

Again, Foxy gave out another grumbled, "No."

"Then what are you in a big hurry for," Bonnie asked as he rested a hand onto the fox's right shoulder.

Foxy gave the purple animatronic a stupefied look before saying, "Ye know exactly why I'm jumpy, Bonnie. I don't want that damn guard hurting that poor lass again!"

"Lower your voice Foxy," Freddy suddenly said sternly as he then began approaching the pirate. "You don't have to worry about Mr. Schmidt, Foxy. I promise you that if he does, in fact, hurt her again; I'll make sure to deal with him." The bear's tone was deep and menacing towards the fox, which had gotten the message across for the animatronic pirate.

Foxy, however, couldn't help but appear disheartened by the bear's words. Freddy instantly took notice of his discomfort and was quick to react by giving the fox an assuring pat on the back. "Your heart is in the right place Foxy. I understand that you're looking out for her; we feel the same way as you and want to help Maggie any way we can. However, we can't solve all her problems, not anymore at least. She knows we can't always help her, so that is why she is trying to fix them right now on her own. As we said earlier, it'll be best to leave the two alone unless the situation calls for it otherwise."

Foxy couldn't help but sigh as he said slowly, "I know… I know… It's just I want to help her. I've tried my best to be there for her, but it's not as easy as it once was. The lass has changed because of what happened to her, and I fear we won't ever get to see her cheery self again."

"Cheer up there Foxy," Chica suddenly said in a cheerful tone. "I trust that Maggie knows what she's doing, and honestly I can understand why she wants us out of this. We did… kinda… try and stuff Mike without her knowing about it, at least till the last second."

Foxy didn't bother replying back to the chicken when he heard something else coming from the office. The fox heard… singing. After he and the rest of the animatronics took notice of the singing, they all then heard the sound of the vixen's crying die down as well, which caused Chica to smile.

"See? What did I tell ya? We shouldn't rush off to conclusions just yet."

That was when Bonnie gave a quick cough before saying, "Correction. I was the one who said that, not you."

Chica responded to the rabbit by rolling her eyes before returning her attention towards the flattened dough. "Whatever. You know what I mean."

…

There was a long moment of silence between Mike and the vixen once he had finished singing. The two were still locked in a hug, but neither of them tried prying themselves out of it. For Mike, he wasn't entirely sure if he should wait till the animatronic made any attempts to pull away; it felt odd for him to hug a machine, especially one that was displaying human-like feelings. As for the vixen, she had no intentions of letting go anytime soon.

Eventually, Mike decided it was time to break away from the hug after a good five minutes of awkward silence. The vixen felt the man's hand pull away from her embrace, and she couldn't help herself from looking sad when she pulled her body as well. However, she did her best to hide away her disappointment by giving the guard a thankful smile.

The man straightened his back, which resulted in a couple of his nerves aching in pain from the odd posture he managed through the hug, before turning his attention back towards the white animatronic fox. Mike instantly took notice of her smile, and he decided it was best if he returned one. Once again though, it felt odd for him to do since he was giving it to a supposed insentient animatronic. However, considering what he witnessed both tonight and yesterday, they were more sentient than he ever thought they would be.

"So… Hi, I guess." Mike's delivery was awkward to say for the least since he had no idea how he was supposed to talk with this animatronic.

The vixen, on the other hand, didn't pay any mind to it as she gave the guard a nod of acknowledgment.

It took a second for Mike to remember the animatronic's interesting situation with its voice sounding broken. He was curious if his suspicions were correct, so he asked in a polite tone, "Are you able to speak?"

The animatronic stared at the guard for a moment before coming up with a non-verbal reply. She lifted up her good paw, which seemed to be the only one that isn't misaligned like her other limbs, before giving it a shaky wave.

 _Yes, and no._

The guard seemed confused by the answer. "What do you mean?"

The vixen bit back her lip when she tried coming up with an answer. When she was unable to find a better alternative, the animatronic reluctantly opened her mouth wide enough for Mike to see the whole insides of it. Using her one good hand, the mangled vixen then pointed towards the very back of her throat, where a small metal box sat.

"I-T-h-U-R-T-s-T-O-t-a-L-k," the animatronic then said in a very loud, scratchy voice. As she was speaking, a couple sparks flew out from the small voice box. The animatronic's voice, though very faint, had a distinct feminine sound to it behind the static crackling.

Mike noticed the sparks flying out and started getting an idea of her situation. "Does it hurt to talk because of your voice box?"

The vixen closed her mouth before giving a small smile accompanied with a nod.

"Is it broken?"

Once again, she gave a nod.

After seeing her answer, Mike's curiosity got the best of him, so he asked his next question with a hint of concern. "Does it hurt when you cry, by chance?"

The animatronic's expression saddened when she bobbed her head towards the man.

 _Yes._

The guard's face softened a bit when he saw the animatronic's response, and deep down he felt pity for the vixen. Then, he suddenly remembered he never told the animatronic his name. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you my name. It's Michael Schmidt. However, it's easier for people to remember my name as Mike."

There was a brief twinkle in the animatronic's golden eyes when he said his name, but he didn't think much on it as he asked the vixen a question that would be easier for her to respond to. "Do you have a name?"

The vixen nodded her head again. After her response, the guard had to think for a moment on how he could get the animatronic to interpret her name without her speaking. The animatronic could sense what Mike was thinking about, so she gently tapped his knee to get his attention. The man was quick to react by looking back at her, and then he saw her pointing her good paw up towards the desk.

The guard stood up once he saw where she was pointing at, and he glanced around the metal table to see what he could use. He caught sight of a pen and a stack of yellow sticky notes, and suddenly an idea popped into his head. Taking both objects in his hands, Mike sat back down facing the vixen.

"I got a pen and some paper here," Mike stated to the animatronic, "I'm not sure if you know how to write your name or not since your body is… um… mangled."

The vixen's ears fell backwards as she frowned a little at the guard's words. However, she motioned for the guard to give her the pen with her good paw. Mike didn't question the animatronic and handed over the pen into her grasp before placing the paper down in front of her.

"I'll hold the paper down for you, if you want me too."

The vixen's frown grew into a gentle smile as she nodded her head, which he took as a yes. Mike held the stack of sticky paper firmly as the animatronic messily wrote out big, individual letters on each slab. Whenever she finished a letter, Mike would peel of the slab in order for the fox to continue on with the rest of its name.

At first the animatronic wrote out a capital 'A,' but then she paused for a moment. Mike couldn't tell what she was thinking about, but he didn't want to make her feel rushed, so he simply waited patiently. Finally, she seemed to have made up her mind, and next wrote the letter 'M' capitalized. After a minute of struggling, the animatronic finished writing the last letter of her name. She then placed the pen down on the ground to signal to the man that she was done.

Once he saw her lower the pen, Mike went ahead organized the letters together in the order she first wrote them in. When he was done with it, the guard stared down at the name in confusion as it read out, "AMggie".

He felt a gentle tap on his knee again, so he looked over towards the fox to see her hand pull the "M" sticky out in front of the "A". The name is spelled out was Maggie. Though he didn't understand why she had capitalized the "A", Mike simply shrugged it off.

"Maggie. Your name is Maggie," Mike asked as he turned towards her.

The vixen gave the man a beaming smile before nodding her head again, which caused the man to smile back.

"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet you, Maggie. You know, I never did thank you for saving me last night. I honestly thought I was going to die yesterday, but my guess is you had saved me from the others." Mike had paused for a moment when he remembered his first reactions to her. "I'm-I'm sorry for reacting the way I did earlier, particularly last night. I-I never intended to be impolite or anything; I was just scared."

Maggie's smile disappeared, but she didn't frown. Instead, she kept a straight face as she nodded her head in understanding. Though the vixen had a neutral expression, Mike noticed her eyes saddened a tad bit.

Suddenly, Mike's eyes widened out in shock as he said out loud, "Oh shit! I completely forgot about the others!"

The guard quickly looked around the dark room in hopes of finding the fallen tablet, but he was stopped when he felt Maggie's paw rest itself on top of his hand. Mike looked up to see her shaking her head at him, as if she was silently telling him something.

The man studied her expression and head motion as he tried putting her unspoken words together. "They… They aren't coming," Mike asked in uncertainty, which made Maggie bob her head up and down.

 _Yes._

Mike was about to ask her why, but then he remembered her situation. The guard tried to think for a couple seconds on an appropriate question to ask her. "Did you do something, like what you did last night, that made them go away?"

She nodded her head.

"Are they going to stay away from me for good?"

That was when Maggie paused her nod before changing it to a shake.

 _No._

The man felt his heart skip a beat. "What do you mean," Mike blurted out in a worried tone as he batted his eyes towards both doors in fear of spotting one of them.

Maggie stared at the man with a confused look since she was unsure how to answer the question. When Mike looked back towards her, he saw her expression and realized what he had asked.

"Sorry-Sorry. I accidentally forgot you can't speak." Mike eyed both of the doors again as he tried reformatting the question at the back of his mind. "Will they come for me right now?"

The white fox paused for a drawn out moment before shakily waving her paw side to side.

"Maybe?"

Maggie shook her head, which Mike assumed the word he used wasn't exactly the one she was thinking of.

He thought in silence before saying, "Possibly?"

The vixen shook her head again.

"Um… Depends?"

Maggie bobbed her head.

 _Yes._

Mike felt increasingly nervous, but he kept his composure by inhaling a deep breath. "Ok… They'll come depending on the situation. Correct?"

She confirmed his statement by nodding.

"Alright then… I guess that's fine," Mike said with a sigh. "I'm going to be honest with you, Maggie. I'm so confused and frightened about everything right now. I-I-I-," Mike's words started to stutter out when he felt tears beginning to form underneath his eyes, "-I don't know why they tried to murder me. I-I mean it's bad enough that they were, but I still don't understand why. Hell, after what happened last night, I would have quit this stupid job on the spot if I didn't need the money."

The animatronic fox next to him stared at the teary man with a saddened expression, but Mike paid no attention to her as he pulled out his necklace. The guard delicately held the small carving in his hands before saying, "This job took away the only woman I've ever loved. She was the most beautiful, considerate, and kind person I've ever met… She was always there for me when I was down, and at times I was also there for her… But not all the time."

Mike's voice paused for half a second when painful memories came flowing back to him. The guard briefly glanced over at the disheartened animatronic, and as he stared into her golden eyes, he felt a sense of shame flow through him. The teary man was ashamed about his feelings, so he diverted his head away from the vixen as he tried his best to hold back the tears while continuing on.

"At first, I did my best to be there for her. I would offer my shoulder over whenever she needed to cry into it. If she ever needed a place to stay or someone to talk to, I would leave whatever I was doing to be there for her. Her foster family were abusive towards her, so she did this very often. I-I willing did everything I could at the time to help her out, b-but it started growing repetitive and depressing for me to do. For years I tried helping her, but nothing I did ever seemed to fix her problems with her family. She would always come to me whenever her family abused her, and I… I… grew tired of hearing it."

As Mike was saying all this, he was wondering deep down as to why he was telling this animatronic all of this. Maybe it was because, after just experiencing a life threatening situation, he wanted to get some things off his chest. Or perhaps it was because he was working in the very same job that was the last thing his girlfriend did before disappearing and he couldn't handle the job's stress anymore.

Or maybe… Just maybe… She was silently watching over him like a guardian angel, and he needed to confess to her in hopes of making through his miserable life.

"I-I-I turned my back from her nearly five years ago on Christmas Eve. I did the most selfish thing any person could do; I abandoned her. I left her to deal with her problems so that I could spare myself from listening to her."

Mike felt his hand clutching against his necklace harder than before as he futilely fought back tears of grief and regret. "Her name was Abigail... Abigail Fitzgerald… And it is a name I will never forget. She disappeared that same night… Working in this exact job… And I have not heard a word since from her."

That was when the guard opened his eyes once more before facing back at the vixen. Maggie's face was one of dismay as she stared right at him with her golden eyes, which were on the verge of tears themselves.

"The cops never found where she went; she had disappeared off the face of the earth in the course of one night. They had presumed she was kidnapped, and for a while, I also believed in that too. However, after what I've just experienced, I know better than to believe in that nonsense now. She was never kidnapped; she was killed here…"

Mike stared absently into the vixen's eyes before he stated in a low voice, "I was the reason she died. Abigail probably, willingly, died at the hands of these animatronics… All because I co-could-couldn't fucking be there for her!" Mike's tears began to stream down from his eyes as he lost himself to his emotions.

"Ma-May-Maybe if I had been there for h-her, she wo-would still be here for me to tell h-her how sorry I am! Ho-How sorry I was to leave her! Oh god, I-I'm so sorry Abigail! I… I… I never intended to leave you! I-I-I-I," the man's voice cracked down into a sob as he couldn't finish his sentence. The grown man was on the floor weeping like a child.

While Mike was crying, he failed to notice that Maggie was struggling with containing her own emotions from him. Her eyes were filled to the brim with oily tears, but she hadn't yet released them. However, her tears were not the only thing she was trying to hold back.

She was unable to contain her pent up, raw emotions that she's hidden deep inside for years. Feelings of sadness, anger, grief, and regret were all raging through her body like a crazed animal, and it wasn't going to take long before she succumbed to her emotions like the man. Maggie fought back both her tears and feelings as long as she could, but then she couldn't take it any longer.

The vixen gave out a loud, ear shattering shriek that echoed throughout the restaurant.

…

Chica gazed proudly over the uncooked pizza with a delighted smile. It took her a couple of minutes of careful preparation and delicate handling, but she had finally finished in preparing the near perfect pizza dish. The cheese and tomato sauce were equally spread out, the dough was flat and perfectly round, and there were no signs of air bubbles in the dough. The yellow chicken was humming happily along with a tune that was stuck in her head as she then delicately lifted up the uncooked pizza. Carrying the metal plate with both her hands, the chicken slowly brought the dish over to the heated oven, which was ready to cook. However, right when Chica had placed her hands on the oven's door, she suddenly heard the frightening screech echo out from the office room.

Chica nor the gang had any time to react as they all jumped up in surprise. Chica's pizza dish flew out from her hands, but she didn't even bat an eye when she saw Foxy immediately bolt out of the room. Freddy, Bonnie, and herself quickly followed behind the sprinting fox as the four of them made their way to the office. They could hear the sound of banging metal.

…

Mike's tearful sobbing came to an abrupt end when he jumped in horrifying shock by the vixen's sudden shriek. The man's ears rang out as it could hear nothing but the sound of Maggie's voice box screech out a mixture of weeping, static, and electric shocks. The voice was ear-shattering to listen to, but the guard lost interest in the sound when he watched the vixen rear its body backward in a great torment of metal and wires. It seemed like Maggie had lost all sense of sanity as she then thrust her hanging limbs into the nearby window.

*Bang*

The animatronic's body struck hard against the seemingly unbreakable glass. The strike sent a painful shockwave through her whole body, which caused Maggie to cry out even louder before pulling her body back to repeat the process.

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*

Each strike against the glass created a small fracture within Maggie's endoskeleton. Though her limbs and middle frame still seemed intact by the blows, it was her second, exposed head that was taking most of the damage. The metal head was beaten again and again against the hard surface. A small indention continued to form across its forehead as it was knocked senselessly against the window. Maggie's voice shrieked out in pain as she felt continually bashed the poor head against the window.

*Bang* *Bang*

*Crack*

In a flash of a second, Maggie's body went from being weighted down to sudden lightness. The vixen halted her teary cries long enough to witness the sight of metal falling from her body. Maggie watched in dismay as the link between her body and the second head broke apart, causing gravity to grab hold of the endoskeletal head. Mike too watched in silence as the exposed head broke off from her main body.

The second head crashed down into the tiled floor, and in that same instance a flurry of metal, bolts, and wires exploded out from the broken head. The indention that formed from Maggie's enraged bashing had collapsed in on itself, allowing the artificial insides of the head to burst out across the room. Mike had no idea how to react to what he just saw, and he wasn't given any time to respond when a certain pirate burst into the room.

Right as Foxy entered into the room, he saw the guard sitting down next to Maggie, whose cheeks were stained in teary black oil. When the red fox saw the broken head against the floor, he roared out in rage before flashing his hook towards the guard. "What did ye do," Foxy shouted out in anger as he swung his hook into the guard's collar. Thankfully, the sharp edge only caught on to the fabric and didn't come in contact with any skin, but Mike was scared beyond belief as he was effortlessly lifted up into the air by the pirate. "What did ye do to her! What have ye done!" Foxy voice was filled with frustration as he gave the guard a deathly stare.

"I-I-I didn't do anything, I swear!" Mike cried out in desperation and fear as he tried wiggling himself out of the animatronic's grasp, but the pirate had pointed the hook in such a way that he couldn't pry his shirt free.

"Liar! I've had it with ye boy! I'm going to rip yer innards out like a damn fish!"

Foxy then tore right through Mike's collar, allowing the man to fall to the ground. Mike landed on the tiles with one painful thud, but he paid no attention when he saw the fox tower over him with a raised hook. Mike's eyes were sticking out from their sockets as he saw the fox thrash his hook down towards him. Mike's life came flashing inside his mind as the hook came flying towards his face.

"F-O-X-Y!"

Both Foxy and Mike froze up when they heard a loud, but clear feminine voice scream out next to them. Mike continued to stare at his would-be killer, whereas Foxy slowly glanced over at the vixen. The red pirate saw Maggie's tear-filled eyes, and he lowered his hook upon seeing them.

"P-l-e-a-s-e F-o-x-y, d-o-n-'t h-u-r-t h-i-m!" Though the back of Maggie's voice was crackling, her voice was still clear and firm. However, her voice rapidly returned to stuttering as her static made it increasingly harder to understand. "M-I-i-I-k-E-e-D-D-D-i-d-n-O-t-H-I-I-I-n-g-W-R-o-n-G! P-L-E-e-e-a-s-e! D-o-n-'T-H-u-R-T-h-i-i-i-i-m!" Then, the vixen's voice quickly became nothing more than unintelligible gurgling and static, but that didn't stop the animatronic from crying even more.

Foxy stared at the suffering animatronic, and slowly he relaxed his body before moving away from the fallen guard. At that point, the remaining animatronics ran into the room and immediately saw the mess. There was a broken head and its parts all lying across the floor, the night guard was lying against the floor with Foxy standing over him, and Maggie was crying in static.

When Freddy noticed this, he raised his eyelids completely before making his way towards the guard in the same anger Foxy felt. Mike saw the bear moving towards him, and he couldn't help but ball up in an act of desperation. Much to the guard's relief, the pirate stuck his hand in front of the Freddy to prevent the bear from moving any further.

"Stop," the fox said simply. Freddy glanced over at Foxy, and he saw the animatronic fox look back at him with a look that told him enough.

The pirate nodded his head towards the fallen guard, who was still balled up in a fetal position, and the bear responded with a nod. Both animatronics then looked over to their crying member. Bonnie and Chica were doing their best to comfort the sobbing vixen, but she paid no attention to their attempts as she was in excruciating pain because of the strain she had put on her broken voice box.

"We're here hun. We're here for ya. Please, look at me. Look at me," Chica whispered as soothingly as possible.

Bonnie was busy petting the vixen's head while saying in a hushed voice, "Yeah, we are here... Shhhh…. Shhhh…. Just look at us..."

Both Freddy and Foxy gave their fifth member a saddened look before noticing Mike uncurl his body from its posture. Like a hesitant animal, the guard peeked his out from his hands to see if the danger had subsided, and he sighed relief when he saw they weren't interested in killing him. However, his comfort flew away in an instant once he saw Foxy and Freddy giving him deathly glare.

Freddy then said in a menacing tone, "Get out."

Hesitantly, Mike peered over to Maggie, who was still crying in agony. "I-Is she alright," the man said in a fearful yet still concerned voice.

Bonnie and Chica both glanced over at the guard while giving him the same glare as the other two were.

"He said get out," Foxy spat out vilely.

The guard didn't want to test their patience any further, so he instantly uncurled himself before clumsily running out of the office. Mike kept his ears listening as he ran, just so that he could hear one of them chasing. Thankfully though, he seemed to be the only one running. Once he entered the main dining room, Mike slowed his running to an eventual stop as he glanced back towards the sound of a weeping animatronic echo from the security office. Listening to the animatronic's crying made the man sigh sadly before turning his head back forward. Right as he did though, he gave out a terrified shout when he saw Freddy standing right in front of him.

"W-Wh-What? H-How did y-you… How-?"

The man's words were cut off when he felt the bear grab hold of him before rearing its head closer to him.

"If you still value your life-," the bear emphasized the last word heavily, "-you are going to tell me exactly what happened. Do you understand?"

Mike bobbed his head up and down furiously while squealing, "Yes! Yes! I swear I didn't hurt her!"

"Then what happened," the bear growled.

Mike wasted no time in telling Freddy what happened. Freddy kept his eyes trained on the guard's facial expressions and body movement; if the guard were lying to him, the bear would know by his body expressions. Mike told brown animatronic everything: his first reactions with Maggie, the song he sang to her, their brief conversation, and finally, he got to her outburst. The bear did not say a single word through the whole thing. Eventually, Mike finished telling the bear what had happened, and at that point, Maggie's sobs had died down into silence. When the guard had gotten through it all, Freddy was pleased to see the man told the truth.

"Good. You aren't lying. Now, go home."

Mike was just about to interject when he suddenly heard his shift's alarms go off, which caused the man to look away briefly. Mike was surprised as to how quickly time flew by, and when he looked back towards Freddy, he found the bear was gone. Feeling a bit creeped out, the guard wasted no time in making his way out of the establishment and into his car. He didn't even bother locking the front door; he just wanted to leave as soon as possible.

After a long night like that, he just wanted to collapse into bed and fall asleep. At least then he can hide himself from the stressfulness of the night.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always please leave a review if you wish (I love to read them, and they honestly help me) and I'll see you next time.


	4. Chapter 4 - Starting Somewhere

As always, Scott Cawthon rightfully owns FNAF and all its characters. Also, all credit for this excellent splash art belongs to xNIROx.

* * *

Chapter 4

~Starting Somewhere~

Even though a span of twelve miles separated the night guard from the dreaded pizzeria, the man was still tensed up with fear. Freddy's menacing words shook the guard to his core, and Mike would always sneak a peak in the back of his car just to make sure the bear wasn't in his car. To any sane person, they would think Mike was crazy for continually checking the passenger seats every minute, but Mike knew better than not to take the bear's threat seriously. After witnessing the dreaded animatronic appear right behind him in the blink of an eye, Mike didn't want to take the risk of having the damn bear get a drop on him.

The cold, winter air brushed over Mike's hands as they numbly steered the car into the parking lot next to his apartment complex. Without even caring what spot he pulled into, the man was quick in hopping out of his car before heading straight to his apartment on the second floor. The guard walked up to his doorway when he saw a yellow sticky note right on it. Curious, Mike tore it off to get a closer look at it.

'You better have my money by Christmas Eve, or else you will regret it.'

Mike gave out a sigh as he stuck the note in his back pocket before grabbing hold of his keys to enter his home. The man hurried into his room to get away from the chilly air, and he shook his body instinctively as soon as his body felt the heated apartment.

While the man would usually attend to his chores first, Mike went straight to his bedroom instead, ignoring the fact that he was somewhat hungry. He quickly tossed aside his sweaty uniform and allowed it to lay on his floor as he walked towards his bed. However, he stopped by the dresser to drop off one last thing. With a single hand, the guard lifted up his necklace by its chain and stared at it solemnly. The white carving sat still in his hand as Mike softly closed his eyes.

A few flashes of Abigail's image popped up inside his head, which caused the man to frown in sadness. In his moment of silence, Mike opened his eyes once again at the small carving. The man couldn't help but be reminded of the animatronic vixen he had met earlier. Just the memory of the animatronic's state alone was enough for him to feel pity, but Mike knew that she deserved more than his sympathy. Despite being a supposed "soulless" machine, which is probably what every sane person would assume, she had saved his life twice… A cold, mangled up animatronic showed him kindness that he hasn't seen in years… At least, not towards him. Not since the loss of his parents and… and...

The guard shook his head, giving out one last sigh as he did so. Mike was tearful as he placed the necklace on a nearby picture frame, which sat idly atop his drawer. Without glancing back at it again, the man wiped away the single tear that formed up in his eye before making his way to his bed.

The frame sat firmly in place with the necklace hanging over by one of its corners, allowing the carving to dangle out in front of the picture of Michael standing with his lost girlfriend. The woman's arms were clinging to Mike's sides as she hid the rest of her body behind the man, except for her head. She was giving him a loving kiss on his cheek. All he did in return was give a bright smile as his eyes were diverted over towards her face. The two looked like a cute, young couple.

In momentary silence, Mike paused in front of his bed to look back at the picture frame. The image caused the man to well up another tear, but he made no effort in removing it. Instead, he allowed it to stream down his cheek before reaching the bottom of his chin. Once it arrived there, Mike allowed his heart to speak.

"If you are out there... Please... Come back to me..."

…

The cold night air blew across Mike's windshields as soft specks of snow fell around him. When the man had arrived at his workplace, the radio clock inside his read that it was an hour before his shift starts. The pizzeria's parking lot was empty and dark, just as it was whenever he arrived the previous nights. However, he felt like he needed to do something without anyone else around… Anyone except the animatronics living inside that building.

With a twist, the car's engine shut off as Mike simultaneously got out of his car. The ground gave a light crunch when his feet crushed the white snow, but he paid little mind to the weather. The guard closed his door behind him before walking towards the entrance of the darkened establishment. December's Christmas air brushed against his cheeks as the man walked, which made him shiver slightly in discomfort since he wore only his purple uniform.

Nevertheless, Mike continued to walk across the snowy ground until he reached the glass doorways. Glancing upright at the keyhole, Mike shuffled around for his security keys before sticking the right key into the hole. The man paused for a moment. His heart was beating fast in anxiety when the thoughts of seeing the other animatronics, especially Freddy, came to mind. For a few seconds, he felt unsure about arriving early. However, once he remembered the reason why he was here this early, Mike's confidence returned. The guard twisted the key and opened the door.

The cold air thrashed at the back of his head, causing him to jump inside by the sudden chilliness before closing the door shut behind him. Mike rubbed one of his frozen hands against the back of his neck and started to rub it in hopes of getting some friction going. As he did that, the guard faced back towards the darkened restaurant to see if there were any animatronics, and, to his relief, there were none in sight.

Mike took several more steps inside and glanced over at the main stage to see if they were there, and his heart sank when he saw it was empty. The guard glanced back over the room to see if he had missed one of them, but, as far as he could tell, there were none.

Then, his right ear picked up the faint sound. Mike twisted his head towards the far right side of the room and tried listening to it more closely.

The muffled voice was coming straight from pirate's cove, just behind the purple starry curtains. Slowly, the guard started to approach the smaller stage by first edging closer to the main stage. Once he reached the far end of that, where he was only a couple feet away from the backstage room, Mike tiptoed over to the pirate's stage.

As the man neared the curtains, the voice became more distinct and identifiable. So much so in fact that he realized it wasn't talking but rather humming. Whoever it was, their voice sounded masculine, which meant that it was probably the animatronic Foxy. When Mike realized who it was, the tone of the pirate's humming caught the guard slightly off-guard. It sounded gentle, heartwarming, and soothing; things that Mike would never have expected from the short-tempered fox.

With a sly hand, the guard carefully pushed aside the curtains so that he could get a glimpse inside. Two animatronics were sitting beside each other in the shadows, and they were only visible thanks to their glowing eyes. Foxy's glowing eyes looked like a dirtier yellow color when compared to Maggie's, whose eye color shined in the darkness.

Maggie kept her head slumped down against the floor, just like an actual fox, while Foxy tenderly caressed her head with his left paw. As he did so, the pirate hummed his hearty tune.

Mike watched the scene in silence. His eyes drifted from the pirate to the vixen, and his expression saddened a bit when he saw her sorrowful gaze. She gazed at the starry curtain with weary eyes, and her ears were curled back on her head.

Eventually, the man decided to pull his head away from the curtains after seeing enough; he didn't want to take the chance of disturbing them for fear of encountering an angry Foxy. Mike turned himself around to see if one of the animatronics were in the same room, and he nearly yelped when he saw Chica staring at him next to the kitchen doorway.

The animatronic chicken didn't have an expression of hate though; she seemed confused about his appearance this early in the night. She didn't say anything to him, but she held up one of her hands to motion him closer to her.

Not exactly sure if he should feel safe or not considering what has happened the last two days, Mike quietly inched towards her while leaving the two foxes alone. Chica watched as the man got closer to her, and it was clear to her that the man was hesitant about getting any closer. Eventually, the guard was a good eight feet away from the chicken. The two figures stared at each other in silence as the sound of humming continued within Pirate's Cove.

"What are you doing here so early?" Chica asked in a hushed whisper. "I thought your shift starts at midnight?"

"Uh-yeah it does, but I decided to come a little early," Mike replied in a similar whisper.

"What for? Are you trying to clock in more hours or something?"

Mike frowned as he shook his head. "No. I was hoping to see one of you guys, actually."

"Oh? What for exactly?"

The guard glanced back towards the purple curtains behind him before motioning at it. "I came by to ask if Maggie was alright."

Chica appeared a bit shocked by his sentence, but she still maintained her hushed voice. "Why do you want to know?"

"Well," Mike said as he rubbed a hand against the back of his head, "-the last time I saw her, she was tearing herself apart. I-I didn't get a chance to ask her what the matter was before you all showed up."

Chica nodded her head for a moment in understanding before peaking over Mike's head to look at the curtain. After a second of inspecting it, she returned her gaze and said, "Here, why don't we talk in the kitchen. That way, we don't have to keep whispering to each other." The guard gave her a hesitant look, which made her shake her head. "I won't hurt you. I promise."

He still kept his look but he didn't want to upset the animatronic, so he followed the chicken into the kitchen. Once the two were inside, the doors cut off the sound of Foxy's humming.

"Now then, with that out of the way, I have one question to ask ya, Mr. Schmidt."

Mike glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Are you hungry," She asked in a kind tone, which caught him by surprise.

"Am I hungry?"

"Yeah. You know, are you hungry for any food?"

Mike was bewildered by the question, but he complied by saying, "Uh-I guess so. I'm kind of tight on money, so I didn't have much to eat other than a bowl of cereal."

Chica gave him a funny look. "Well, that's no dinner. Here, why don't ya help me out while we talk? It'll be best if we leave those two alone for now."

"Um... Sure," Mike hesitantly responded as he eyed the animatronic. He wasn't expecting to see this from one of the animatronics who tried to kill him.

When she saw his look though, she simply rolled her eyes before moving towards the cupboards. "Oh please, you don't have to be so afraid around me. I'm not going to hurt ya, nor are the others for that matter."

Mike watched as she pulled out a couple of spices from the cabinets and placed them on the center table. She then walked over to the refrigerator to grab some cold ingredients, and as she did Mike finally said something to her.

"You-You aren't going to hurt me?"

Chica lifted her head out from the fridge to look at the man. "Not anymore, no. We had a misunderstanding, that's all. So long as you don't hurt anyone, you should be fine." She then turned her head away to continue looking for her ingredients.

The man felt somewhat relieved about what he just heard, but he also felt uneasy about the animatronic's liveliness. She, along with the rest of the gang, acted more human-like than he would have imagined a couple of soulless machines to be. It was uncanny, to be honest.

Suddenly, he remembered his initial reason for coming here. "Well that's good to hear, I guess." He muttered as his eyes drifted away. "Anyways, you asked why I came here so early, correct?"

Chica pulled out a couple more things before she turned back towards him. "That's right. I think you said something about Maggie."

"Yeah. I was hoping to see if she was better after the whole incident yesterday."

She nodded her head in understanding before carrying over the bundle of cold ingredients in her arms. "She's feeling a little better after last night, but she still hasn't gotten over with breaking her second head." Chica placed down the items in her hands and closed the fridge door with one of her feet. "Bonnie and Freddy are in the back seeing what they can do about her broken head, but honestly I think they can't do anything about it."

"Why?"

The yellow animatronic glimpsed over with her beak before saying in a saddened note, "She had smashed it to pieces, much to the point where it was enough trouble for Bonnie and me to find them all. We can't do much in fixing it because our hands are so blessed big." Chica raised her animatronic hands up to illustrate her point. "Foxy has only one paw that can't get a good grasp on anything while Freddy, Bonnie, and I have these huge hands that can barely pick up small nuts and bolts. If we could, we would fix her up, so she isn't so tangled up, but we can't do much about it."

"Oh," Mike stated simply as he awkwardly looked over to the kitchen doorway to see if any of the other animatronics were looking at him. He didn't see any of the others, so he looked back over to Chica, who was starting to press together some pizza dough. "I hope you don't mind me asking," the guard said curiously, "-but what exactly are you doing?"

The animatronic shifted her magenta eyes over before looking surprised. "What? I'm making pizza for you. Couldn't you tell?"

Mike quickly nodded his head and said out loud, "Well yeah I can see that, but I thought you said it was weird to do things because of your hands."

"We do have trouble, but I've learned to put up with it and taught myself how to cook."

"That's… cool. What kind of pizza are you making?"

The animatronic then flashed him a smile with her beak as she said in reply, "What would you like? I've essentially got every topping you can think of."

Mike rubbed his chin timidly. "Do you mind if… you make it without cheese by chance?"

"Lactose intolerant?" Chica asked curiously, which made the man shake his head.

"No, I just never liked the taste or smell of cheese; it makes me nauseous."

Chica shrugged her shoulders while still keeping her smile. "That's fine by me. Not everyone is into everything. Would you like any toppings to go with your pizza?"

The question caused the guard's stomach to growl considerably loud, which made the man blush as Chica gave out a short laugh. "Well, that's one response."

"Hehehe… Yeah. I could go for mushroom and onion toppings."

Chica nodded her head before focusing her attention on the dough. "Sure thing, I can whip that up for ya. Oh gosh, you know I never did properly introduce myself because of our little fiasco. My name's Chica. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Schmidt."

"Same with you too, but you can just call me Mike. My real name is Michael, but I'm used to being called Mike nowadays."

The animatronic nodded her head and said with a smile, "Sure thing, Mike. Oh, I think Foxy is just about done with his song since I can't hear his humming anymore. I think Maggie would appreciate it if you go by and see her. Maybe she'll cheer up when she sees you again."

Mike didn't have any oral response to give to the chicken, so he merely nodded his head before exiting the room. Chica watched in the corner of her eyes as the man left the room, and she gave a solemn huff of air.

 _"I hope you can cheer her up again. The poor girl needs it right now."_

…

Staring somberly into the starry drapes, Maggie listened as Foxy's soft humming came to an end. She felt his hand pull away from her head. The vixen shifted her gaze over to the red fox, who gave her a wistful smile.

"Ye feeling a bit better, lass?"

Maggie gave a thankful expression towards Foxy. She gave him a slow but firm nod, which caused the fox's smile to widen.

"That's good to 'ear."

Then, the two animatronics heard the metallic clinking of their curtain rings moving. Both foxes glanced over without too much worry since they were expecting one of their fellow gang members at the entrance, but they were surprised to see that they were wrong. It wasn't one of their friends coming to greet them. It was the night guard.

"Uh-Hi." the man said awkwardly towards the two animatronics.

Maggie looked surprised but happy to see Mike, whereas Foxy gave only a stern frown. The red pirate briefly glanced over to the side of his stage where a stage clock hung for show times.

"What are ya doing here so early? I thought ye shift starts in another half 'our?" Foxy puzzlingly stated as he turned his head away from the clock and back over to the man.

"Well I kinda wanted to come by a bit sooner because I wanted to check up on her." Mike said with a nod towards Maggie, who raised her head up from the floor.

Foxy, at this point, got himself to slowly stand up before looking down at the mangled vixen next to him. When he took notice of Maggie's happy smile, the animatronic pirate gave a tired sigh before turning towards the guard. "She's doing better now... no thanks to you."

Maggie quickly turned her head up to Foxy with a pained expression while lightly slapping one of his legs. Foxy gave a heavy huff when he felt her hand, but he kept his glare firmly on Mike. After a moment of silent glaring, the fox's expression softened when turned back towards Maggie.

"I'm… I'm sorry lass. I should of bit back me tongue." Foxy said apologetically. Maggie kept her hurt look though, which made the fox shake his head to her stare by walking away. "I best be checking up with Freddy and Bonnie."

Foxy then said as he walked across the small stage. Maggie and Mike followed the pirate's footsteps with their eyes until he reached the edge. Before he hopped off the stage, the red fox gave Mike a brief look before turning one last time to the vixen.

"If ye need me lass, just give a holler." With that being said, the pirate hopped off the stage and walked off.

Mike watched as the animatronic left them, and he felt more relaxed when the animatronic entered the backstage room. The man gave out a relieved sigh before hearing the sound of clanging metal approach him from the direction of Pirate's Cove. Mike turned his attention back over to Maggie, who was slowly making her way across the wooden stage by crawling across the floor. The awkward and mangled mess that laid out behind her was making it difficult for the animatronic to move any faster. When Mike saw this though, he quickly hopped up onto the stage and slid himself next to her.

"Oh! You don't have to move at all." Mike said in a polite tone as he crisscrossed his legs. Maggie halted her movement when she heard him say that, so instead she looked over towards him with a happier expression than the one she had with Foxy. Upon seeing this, Mike smiled back. "So, I came by an hour earlier to see if you were alright. I didn't get to see what happened to you, and for a while, I was worried about your well-being after watching… you know."

From the looks of it, the vixen understood what the guard meant by that, and he was relieved to see her nod in response to his question.

"That's good… That's good." Mike repeated the phrase a second time while his brain tried coming up with something conversational. "I-uh-met with Chica a couple minutes ago and we had a chat."

He noticed Maggie gave him a slightly worried look as soon as he mentioned the chicken animatronic, but he was quick to reassure the white fox. "She wasn't hostile towards me at all! Not like the first night, if that was what you were worried about. She wasa shallow politer than I imagined her to be. In fact, she is in the kitchen right now making a pizza for me." Mike said that last sentence in a mix of surprise and joy.

The vixen, sitting next to him, smiled a bit wider when she heard this.

Mike then paused involuntarily as his mind judged the absurdity of his situation. He was talking about a bunch of killer animatronics that entertain children, excluding Maggie. His head could not wrap around the odd concept of his predicament, but he made sure not to show his thoughts to the vixen. Instead, he managed to recollect himself.

"So… I guess we got some time to spare before my shift starts." the man said as he glanced over at the nearby clock to see he had around thirty minutes to kill. "I'm not exactly sure what you do in your spare time, but I'll leave it up to you."

The animatronic frowned at the man after she too glanced over at the stage clock. She tried moving the back of her body, which was still strung out behind her, but once again she was having trouble. Mike took note of this, and he reacted by gentle raising up the center of her body, which was the only thing connecting her mixed up limbs with the rest of her body. With the guard's help, the white animatronic was able to move the rest of her awkward limbs arms forward so that they weren't dangling out in all random directions of the stage. Maggie gave the guard a gentle tap with her soft paw, and when he looked over towards her face, he could see her silently thanking him.

"Not a problem," Mike said with a polite nod as he carefully lowered the chest. As soon as he was done with that, Mike noticed something about her mangled up body. Her twisted limbs were all connected to the vixen's center chest piece, but the chest area itself wasn't mangled or deformed like the rest of her body. He studied the animatronic's anatomy a bit longer to see that the animatronic's center also had a torso. The guard frowned for a moment when he saw this, which caused Maggie to do the same as well when she saw his expression.

"I'm-I'm sorry." Michael hesitantly said as he focused back on the animatronic's head. "I'm just confused about your body. That's all." The vixen's look saddened a bit as she looked back at her self to see the mangled mess she was. The guard was silent until he heard a very low but still audible static sound emit from the animatronic next to him. Mike had to shift his body a little to see Maggie was beginning to tear up in the corner of her eyes, which caused him to panic internally.

 _'Oh gosh! Did I just insult her?'_ He worriedly thought to himself. "I-uh-I-I didn't mean to hurt you by saying that," Mike said in the panic. "I-I swear!"

The animatronic ceased her low static whimpering when she heard the man say that, but she didn't turn to face him. Her single tear remained on the edge of her eyes as their golden hue illuminated the metallic mess.

The night guard's panic subsided, but his pity for the poor animatronic didn't. He couldn't understand why she was in such a disrepair state or why she is being hidden. When he first came into this job, his boss never told him about the vixen's existence, nor did Abigail when he thought about it.

Back when she was still alive, she would sometimes talk about her night job. From what he could remember, she certainly didn't describe it as being life-threatening experience as it was for him. Instead, he can remember her talking rather fondly about her job, but she never went down into the specifics of it. All she ever did tell him was that she felt more welcomed in her work place than she did at her home...

Mike quickly realized that his mind was starting to get sidetracked, so he subconsciously shook himself back to reality to focus again on the teary-eyed vixen. She didn't seem to be phased by the man for she was too busy staring at herself. Eventually, though, the animatronic turned her head back towards the guard after a few moments of somber silence. Mike was able to see her face again when she turned back around, and he noticed her tear was still on the verge of dropping.

"H-Hey now. There's no need to cry." The night guard said as he used his other hand to wipe away the tear.

Maggie kept her head still as he did so, and once it was all done she lowered her head slightly in shame.

The man could tell that the animatronic was in distraught; it was almost as if the very sight of itself caused the animatronic to feel more depressed. Mike, however, was no stranger to depression, so he gently nudged a hand onto her good paw to get her attention. Maggie looked back up to see Mike give her a concerned look.

"You don't like the appearance of yourself, do you?"

The animatronic at first appeared reluctant to answer, but then she gave him a slow nod.

"Do you think it'll help if we talk about it?"

The deformed fox sorrowfully shook her head with her eyes closed.

The guard noted her reaction to the touchy subject, so he decided to not press on it further in fear of making her cry again. An idea then came to mind. Mike sat still as his brain pondered on it; he wasn't sure if it would help or not. Upon glimpsing at the animatronic though, he saw that she was still looking away. The man knew what he had to do, so he took in a deep breath.

"I… I wanted to end my life you know."

Maggie opened her eyes as soon as she heard him say that, and she instantly turned over to face him.

"Seconds before the power died out; I had given up. I figured it was the end for me at that point, so I willingly opened the doors so your friends could get me." The guard then paused for a moment to let Maggie sink in his words. "I wanted to die," Mike then said in a hushed whisper. "I wanted to let them kill me so that, maybe, I could be with people who cared about me."

Tears began to form in his eyes as his thoughts started to focus on Abigail, but Michael suppressed them by clinging his eyes shut while hiding his face away from the vixen. "After the power had gone out though, I suddenly didn't want to die. For whatever reason, some part of me still hasn't let go of Abigail… My old girlfriend… My old love…" The guard involuntarily raised a hand to his neckline so he could touch the necklace sitting underneath. "I-I want to believe she is out there still… Somewhere… So that I can say how sorry I am."

Maggie could hear the man choke back his tears while keeping his face hidden, so she tried shifting her neck around the front of him so she could see his face. Mike's tear hung right, just like her tear beforehand. Maggie's somber frown softened as she tried reaching for his tear, but she found out that her arm was too far to reach it; she would have to move her entire body again, which was a difficult task to do alone. The vixen was forced to stare at the man's tearful face helplessly as Mike made no motion to open his eyes.

Eventually, a soft sob from the man escaped his throat, which caused him to open his eyes. "You saved me." Michael whispered tearfully. "For whatever reason, you saved my life twice from your friends. I don't know why you did, but… I don't care."

A few tears began to fall as he eyed thankfully into the vixen's golden eyes; the animatronic's eyes reminded him of Abigail's.

"I'm just thankful you have given me the chance to find her."

Maggie watched as the guard gave her a warm smile, and she couldn't help but smile along with him.

* * *

As always, please leave a review about your thoughts so far and I wish you all a (late) Happy New Year!

P.S. This story is now officially over a year old, and it is incredible how much my writing has improved. Hopefully, it will continue to grow.


	5. Chapter 5 - Together

Been a while hasn't it? I know people have been waiting patiently for another chapter, so I took a short break from "The Desire for Family" to write this up. Also, for those of you who have been waiting for another chapter of "Rekindling of Affection", keep your eyes peeled on chapter one of that, for I'll be posting its revised version soon.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Scott Cawthon rightfully owns FNAF and all its characters. Also, all credit for this great splash art belongs to xNIROx.

* * *

Chapter 5

~Together~

Bonnie and Freddy were quiet as they stood inside the backroom. Spare animatronic parts and suits surrounded them in the darkened room, but neither were fazed by the darkness thanks to their glowing eyes.

Freddy held a piece of broken metal in front of his eyes, dolefully gazing at it. He then gave a long, breathy sigh. "How are those pieces looking Bonnie? Are they manageable for you?" Freddy asked with concern.

Bonnie was too busy examining the shattered remains of Maggie's second head to look back at the bear, but he still shook his head in response.

"There's not much here that I can work with. This thing is completely busted. It's hard enough for me trying to fix her with these hands alone, but this… This is near impossible for me to work with. There's nothing for me to be able to handle these with, and we don't have anymore spare pieces from her model that'll work."

"Damn," said the bear in a disappointed tone. The brown animatronic looked away, flustered. "That's another piece of her ruined."

"Unfortunately so," whispered the purple rabbit as he took what remaining, salvageable pieces they had of the vixen's broken parts and dumped them into a nearby box. The box was already filled to the brim with broken metal, torn wires, nuts and bolts of varying sizes, and extra tufts of white fur.

"How many more times is this going to happen to her?" Freddy then said as he turned his head back towards the rabbit.

"It depends," Bonnie said as he pushed the box back into its safe location, camouflaged alongside other boxes filled with similar parts that were designed for the other members of the gang. "Her endoskeleton isn't meant to be exposed like it is now, so whenever she tries to move, she is only damaging herself further."

Freddy shook his head, "We aren't going to turn her off, Bonnie."

"I'm not saying we should. I'm just saying no matter what, her body is going to break down."

"Then we keep trying, and if that doesn't work, we will be there until the end."

Bonnie shamefully shook his head, but he didn't say anything more.

Just then, both animatronics heard the backstage door creak open, and the two glanced back to see Foxy entering the room. The red fox took a second to look between Bonnie and Freddy, but then he diverted his eyes towards the box where Bonnie had hidden it.

"Can't do anything with it?" Foxy asked in a solemn tone as his eyes fell upon Bonnie, who nodded his head.

"Same reason as before. I got too big of hands, and the pieces are so small that it is almost impossible for me or Freddy to handle them properly."

The pirate sighed before muttering in a disheartened tone, "I see." The fox's eyes drifted over to the side, and Freddy stepped over to give the animatronic an assuring pat on the back.

"Keep your chin up Foxy. There's no point in being upset with what we already know. What's important is we stay optimistic. It's got us this far."

"But how much farther can we go before our luck runs out?" the pirate sighed as he glanced over at the bear.

"Nobody knows," replied Freddy, "-which is why we must always look forward. You never know what tomorrow might bring."

Foxy stood for a moment and gave a light shrug. "Ye be right there. There's no telling what'll come up."

Freddy gave the fox another pat, "Moving on with things; I'm a bit surprised to see you back here already. You usually stay by Maggie's side until the very last minute."

That was when Bonnie and Freddy saw a glint in the fox's eyes, and they watched as the pirate straightened himself out.

"The lad came earlier." Foxy nearly spat at the thought of the man.

"Mr. Schmidt came early?" asked Bonnie with a raised eyebrow.

"Aye. He came by me cove to check up on the lass to see how she was faring after yesterday. Maggie wanted me to leave them alone, so I complied."

"I see," Freddy muttered lowly.

His ears then gave a slight twitch, one that neither of the other animatronics noticed. There was a soft echo coming from the open door. It was a sound he had recognized all to well. It was the scratchy sound of Maggie's malfunctioning voice box, straining itself because she was crying. For a moment, Freddy felt the compulsion to run as fast as he could to help her, and the thought almost won. However, he stopped himself.

That was when he saw both of Foxy's and Bonnie's ears twitch to the sound, just as he did. Both animatronics turned their attention towards the door. Freddy gazed at their faces, and he could see their concern for their youngest member.

"Remember what she told us. She needs to handle this alone, without our interference."

"I know Freddy," Bonnie stated.

Foxy remained silent.

"Foxy."

The fox still gave only silence.

"Foxy," Freddy said a bit more sternly, which prompted the pirate sigh.

"Aye… I know… "

…

Mike sat down beside the broken vixen, smiling at her as she did the same. The man couldn't help but feel entranced by her smile. Sure, it was a bit weird to see a genuine smile on an animatronic's face, but there was something about it that felt familiar to him. He had seen this smile somewhere before. Somewhere special to him, but where?

The guard then heard the distant, dying hum of the restaurant's generators powering off, causing him to push aside his thoughts for a moment as he became engulfed in complete darkness. There was a slight pause, and then he heard the power re-route itself with a subtly electrical hum.

The man's eyes drifted back towards his side, where he can see Maggie's golden eyes pierce through the darkness. Her face glowed in the golden hue thanks to her eyes, but the rest of her body became difficult to see. Mike frowned, and the vixen noticed this. The man felt Maggie's paw gently poke his shoulder before moving it into view of her glowing eyes. She pointed one of her pink nails towards her face, which mimicked the same frown as him, before pointing back at him. Mike took a second to figure out what she was trying to say.

"Are you asking why I'm frowning?" he guessed, which earned him a nod from the vixen. "Well, it's a little too dark for me. I can barely see anything that's a few feet from me, and I'm still a bit wary of your friends."

He watched as the vixen frowned further, but she eventually nodded her head in understanding. Mike briefly gazed around for the moment, futilely looking in the dark as he tried to think up a solution. Suddenly, it came to him that he had brought with him a flashlight the night previously. Mike quickly patted down his sides to see if it was still on him, but his heart sank when he realized it was absent. Then, he felt another tap on his shoulder, and the man glanced back at Maggie, who now had a confused expression.

"Oh, I was trying to find my flashlight, but it seems I've misplaced it somewhere."

The vixen thought for a moment, and her expression changed to that of recollection. Mike noticed this.

"Do you know where it is?" he asked in a hopeful tone.

Maggie nodded her head in response.

"Where?"

Her head turned towards the curtain, so Mike quickly got up from his spot and unfurled the purple sheet. The curtain's rings ringed against its metal bar as they shifted over to the side, enabling both individuals to see the rest of the restaurant. Once that was done, the man looked back at the animatronic, and he could see she was nodding her head towards the security office.

"Is it in the office?"

Maggie responded with a nod.

The guard gave a thankful nod as he then said, "Alright. I'm going to go down to the office then and see if I can find it. I'll be back as fast as I can, I promise."

Though the vixen seemed hesitant to see him go, she reluctantly nodded her head. The man hopped off the stage and jogged to the left hall, away from her sight. Maggie's eyes furrowed when they lost sight of him, and deep down she had hoped that she didn't scare him away because of her appearance.

However, after a minute or so of uneasy silence, she could hear footsteps coming down the hall with a bright beam of light emitting from within it. A few short moments later, the guard turned the corner, entering the main dining hall with the flashlight in his hand. The man had a smile as he came back towards the cove, beaming it curiously around.

When it fell upon Maggie though, he suddenly heard her give off a sharp, loud screech as the light blinded her eyes. Almost instantly, Mike stopped right in front of the stage and pointed the light away from the broken animatronic. The animatronic no longer produced the ear-shattering sound, but he could tell the light had hurt her based on the pained expression she was giving him with her dimly lit eyes.

Mike frowned as he hopped back up onto the stage and turned the flashlight off to not repeat the same mistake. He knelt down in front of the vixen with an apologetic look and said hesitantly, "S-Sorry about that. I… I didn't know the bright light would hurt you."

Maggie frowned slightly, but she still gave him a small nod to show she understood him. Her eyes though still sulked down to the floor.

The guard frowned when he watched the animatronic look away from him. It was as if she was disgusted with herself or something close to that, and the man felt pity for the poor thing. He took a quick glance at his flashlight and thought as his hands groomed over its surface. Then, an idea came to mind.

With a slight smile, Mike pointed the flashlight towards the back wall of the cove, away from the starry curtain, and he turned it on. Immediately, the bright light cut through the darkness of the place, producing a large artificial circle of light against the back end of the stage.

The depressed vixen noticed the glint of light just off in the corner of her eye, and she carefully shifted her head back towards the man to see what he was doing. She was surprised to find the man sitting down cross-legged towards the back wall, with the flashlight sitting idly in his lap. She noticed his smile, so she slowly dragged herself closer to him.

Mike heard the sound of metal scraping against the wooden floor, and he turned his head to see the vixen giving him a confused and somewhat frightened look as she drew closer. The guard could tell the animatronic was frightened by the light, but he motioned his hand in front of the light, signaling her to come closer. The animatronic did so slowly, remaining cautious of the beam that was pointed in front of her.

The man gave her an encouraging smile as he patted his right hand on an empty spot next to him, "It's ok. You can sit right here next to me. I'll make sure the light doesn't hit you."

The vixen gave him a wary look. Nonetheless, she complied and crawled herself next to the man. She then lifted her head up with her snake-like spine, allowing it to be leveled with Mike's head. The vixen turned to him once more, giving him a confused look.

Although the vixen's neck gave the man chills, he made sure he kept his smile. With almost an embarrassed voice, Mike said, "So I figured there really isn't much I can do with you, considering your whole… *cough* situation." Mike could tell the animatronic looked hurt when he reminded her of what she was, so he quickly followed it up by saying, "S-Sorry. Anyways, I noticed you aren't so much in the mood to talk, so then why don't we play a little game?"

Maggie's eyes widened a bit in surprise as her frown disappeared. She tilted her head, giving him a curious look.

Still wearing an embarrassed smile, Mike gestured his head towards the illuminated wall and said, "This is how it will work. I'm going to make a shadow puppet against the wall, like so."

The man raised his hands up in front of the beam, and then he clung his hands together to form a shape. A shadowy image of a rabbit subsequently came to view. Mike glanced back over at the vixen to see her reaction, and he was happy to see her twinkling in awe.

"I'm then going to say an animal's name, and you can nod yes or shake no to tell me if the shadow matches the animal's name. What do you think? Would you like to play it?"

The vixen turned her head towards the man, grinning with glee, as she nodded her head enthusiastically.

It had been a while since Mike had last felt the sense of pride, but, after seeing the vixen's joyful response, he was reminded of how it felt. It was a nice a feeling; to know that even though he was far from perfect, the man could still bring some happiness to the world. With a merry smile, Mike unfurled his hands to form the next image.

For so long, Mike had forgotten how to make shadow puppets. He used to do it with Abigail whenever they were alone, far from the world that troubled them. Whether it was a camping trip or just in one of their rooms, it was a nice childish activity the two got to do to ease their minds. For Mike, it was one of few things that helped calm her, to help her just forget all the bad things in her life. That had been over five years ago.

When the guard folded his hands together to form the first puppet, which shaped out to be a butterfly, he felt almost a heavy heart at the sight of it. He had done this so long ago, and he couldn't help but feel a little sad at the thought of his lost love. However, he didn't want to make his troubles the vixen's as well, so he suppressed the thoughts and turned to the animatronic.

"Is it a fish?"

The vixen gave him a funny look and shook her head.

"How about a bird?"

Maggie tilted her head for a moment and shook again.

"Is it a butterfly then?"

The animatronic nodded her head profusely, making the man giggle slightly.

"Congrats. You got the point."

Maggie gave the man a smile. Her eyes twinkled when she did. She watched him unfold his hands and think for a moment before moving his hands again. The vixen looked out at the image, studying its appearance. Whatever it was that he had made, it had two small horns atop its head. She gazed at it for several seconds. The horns weren't curved like a bull's, nor were they big like antlers; they were just two straight horns.

"Is it a goat?" the man asked.

The vixen looked at the image again before nodding hesitantly, guessing her answer. When she turned towards the guard, she saw him nod his head.

"You're correct again. That's two points for you."

Maggie's smile widened, and Mike motioned his hands to make the next animal.

The next shadow caught the animatronic's attention. This puppet was a bit more crudely shaped. It looked like it had a round, bulbous head. Beneath it, Mike wiggled his fingers around sporadically, giving the odd creature a jiggly beard of some sort. Maggie was baffled by it.

"Is it a bug?" Mike asked as he turned to face her, taking note of her perplexed expression.

She shook her head after some thought.

"Is it an octopus?" he then said with a sly smile.

Maggie didn't notice his smile, for she was too busy trying to decipher the animal in front of her. She studied its wavering beard, and then it clicked in her mind that those were supposed to be tentacles. She turned to Mike, gave him a triumphant grin, and nodded her head.

"Err! Incorrect!" the man stated playfully. "It's an alien."

Maggie gave the man a smirk. The man mocked her with a childish grin, which caused her to in turn slap the back of his head with her one paw. She didn't strike him hard of course, but it was enough to get his attention.

"Hey!" Mike giggled out with a grin as he rubbed the back of his head, humored by the vixen's slap.

Maggie couldn't help herself, and she opened her mouth to let out a static-like giggle. Although it was difficult for Mike to tell what it was at first, all he had to do was look at her happy expression to know what it was.

The two continued on happily. Mike was slowly beginning to remember how to shape his hands into unique animals, such as a stag and an elephant. However, after twenty minutes had gone by, he was starting to run out of ideas for animals, so he started to improvise certain animals. Some worked out, while others became downright silly. That didn't deter him though, for he was enjoying the vixen's company.

Maggie felt the same way. It had been so long since she had a chance to have real fun that she almost forgot what it felt like. But now, with Mike by her side, she remembered what it was like to be alive again.

Their game went on and on, and every passing minute allowed the two to notice each other's quirks.

Maggie could tell that, despite Mike's age, he still had a youthful and at times immature side to him. He would occasionally tease her whenever he saw an opportunity too, but it was always in good nature. There were also at times where she noticed him staring right into her eyes. Sometimes it was for just a quick second, but at other times he would just hold it for a moment, staring at her with a shy smile before shaking himself back into reality.

As for Mike, there was something off about the bot. Maggie's appearance had been growing on him, so it wasn't that which was distracting him. Instead, it was her overall demeanor. She had started to act more playful towards him whenever he poked a joke at her, which ranged from comical slaps that wouldn't even hurt a fly to festive giggles that were sometimes drowned out by static. She was starting to act a lot like how Abigail use to act, and it also didn't help that the vixen's golden eyes had the same allure that his girlfriend had. At times, Michael found himself lost in her gaze for a moment, thinking about Abigail.

"Err! Sorry, but that's incorrect! Another point for me!" Mike jokingly said as he stopped the wiggling mess that was his puppet.

The man had run out of ideas about ten minutes ago, so, at this point, he was either improvising his puppets or re-using old ones. Maggie responded to his statement by blowing a playful raspberry at him, which caused him to laugh at the odd sight. He had never seen a fox stick its tongue out at him, so seeing an animatronic, whose lips were covered in a red lip balm, do it to him was enough for the man to burst into laughter. The vixen soon joined in with his laughter by giggling, which sometimes cut itself out with a short static before continuing once more.

"I think that's about it for me," said Mike as he twisted the top of the flashlight, making the beam smaller but more concentrated. Once it was to the size he wanted, Mike turned it off. His vision blacked out in an instant when he was enveloped by the building's darkness, but he then noticed that the dim light from Maggie's eyes illuminated his face. The man smiled, "Thank you for the light." Though it was difficult to tell, he could see the edge's of the vixen's mouth turn up slightly to form a smile of their own.

Suddenly, Mike started to smell something captivating way off in the distance. He turned his head towards the darkness, trying to find the source of the pleasant scent. The aroma was a lot like that of a bakery. Soon enough, his stomach started to growl at the smell.

"What is that smell?" the guard asked as he aimed his flashlight towards the direction of the smell and pressed down on the power button. The rubber button made a small click sound before immediately shining the opposite side of the dining hall with light. Maggie looked over to where the beam was pointing at, and she noticed it was directed towards the kitchen.

Then, without warning, a yellow figure burst through the kitchen doors. Chica twisted her body around, holding a steaming pizza box high above her head with just one hand, and wore the biggest grin on her face. However, the chicken squinted her eyes when she felt the flashlight beam directly into her eyes. "Hey, can you please turn that light off? It hurts my eyes."

Mike quickly pressed the power button again and apologetically said, "Oops. Sorry. I guess you all aren't big fans of light then, huh?"

Chica walked up towards the cove. Her magenta eyes lit up the way as she walked. "Only the kind that are bright and are purposely shined into our eyes. It messes up our sensors," the animatronic rebutted. "I forgive you though. You didn't know." Chica set the pizza box down on the edge of the stage, several feet away from Mike and Maggie, before glancing at the two with a smile. "Anyways, your pizza is ready Mr. Schmidt. I made it just the way you wanted it: one hot, scrumptious pizza without cheese."

Instantly, Mike's stomach gave out a loud growl at Chica's words, and his cheeks quickly turned red when he heard both Chica and Maggie giggle at the sound.

"I guess somebody is hungry," Chica teasingly said as she leaned down onto the stage with her head resting on her hands.

Mike was about to reply back, but his stomach beat him to it, which made the vixen sitting next to him cackle in a giggling fit. The man blushed even harder, "W-Well, it's been a while since I've last smelled something this good. I'm use to eating nothing but microwave meals and the occasional fast food."

Chica gave a sly grin as she put a hand on the pizza box. "Oh dearie, just wait till you try this then. This pizza is going to be a party in your mouth," she said before sliding the box closer to the man.

The guard gave the animatronic a grateful smile as the box slid right up to his feet, but then his expression froze. A large cartoonish picture was portrayed on the cover of the box. It had all the four animatronics displayed in unique poses while all giving the same welcoming smile: Freddy was tipping his top hat, Bonnie was waving his right hand while holding his guitar in the other, Chica was leaning forward a bit with both her arms behind her back, and Foxy held his hook up beside his head.

To anyone around him, it was just an innocent cartoon. To Michael though, it reminded him of something else. No matter how kid-friendly these animatronics are meant to be, they still are murderous machines. If they were just as willing to kill him as they were a few mere days ago, then they would've been willing to do it to Abigail.

She was gone because of them…

She was gone... because of him...

Chica, after noticing the man's sudden change in attitude, spoke up and said, "Is something wrong?"

Her words were met with only silence. Maggie grew concerned about him as well when she noticed Mike's sudden quietness, and she kept her eyes on him as he simply stood still. Then, her heart sank when she saw a tear stream down from his eye.

"Abigail," the guard whispered, causing the vixen next to him to freeze up as well.

Mike's sense of time had disappeared, for a single voice had consumed his thoughts. It was a voice he could never forget. Whether it was out of guilt or desire, the man wasn't sure, but he memorized it regardless because of a straightforward thing. It was the last time he heard Abigail's voice...

 _"I-I-I'm sorry, Mike. I'm sorry for who I am. I-I thought that you cared about me. I thought you loved me. I… I guess that was my mistake. I guess that's all I'll ever be: a mistake. Goodbye Michael."_

Maggie watched in regret as the man fell to his knees, his eyes bearing forward. She tried to pull herself closer to the man, but she could feel her lower, mangled up body weigh her down against the wooden stage. Nonetheless, Maggie continued to drag herself up until she was finally next to Mike, who remained still. The vixen reared her head back like a snake while looking up at the man, and then she reached out to him with her one good paw.

The touch of a soft, gentle hand woke Michael up from his thoughts, and he glanced up to see the vixen's golden eyes stare directly into him. They had a somber look to them, one that reminded him a lot of Abigail. Mike sighed heavily, and he casted a defeated gaze back towards the floor.

"S-Sorry… I'm just… I… I need some time to myself," he finished in a disheartened tone. The guard stood back up and left the stage, ignoring the looks of both Maggie and Chica.

Both animatronics watched in dismay as the grown man, who was trying his best to hide his tears, turned the corner, disappearing from their sight inside the left security hallway. Chica glanced back over at Maggie, then at the pizza box that the man had left behind. The yellow animatronic looked hurt, but not merely as much as Maggie. The vixen's eyes started to tear up, just like Michael's, as she gazed towards his direction…


End file.
